DMITROV, Russia – Five players have been selected as the Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team leadership group for the 2018 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship, Jan. 6-13.

Sarah Fillier (Georgetown, Ont./Oakville, PWHL) will wear the ‘C’, along with Zoe Boyd (Caledon, Ont./Mississauga, PWHL), Brooke McQuigge (Bowmanville, Ont./Whitby, PWHL), Audrey-Anne Veillette (Drummondville, Que./Stanstead College, NAPHA), and Courtney Vorster (Richmond, B.C./Shattuck-St. Mary’s, USHS), who will rotate as alternate captains.

“This leadership group is made up of experienced returning players and overall strong leaders, and we are very proud of the way they have conducted themselves through the various Hockey Canada events,” said head coach Delaney Collins. “We have a very talented group of players, and the leadership these athletes bring has created a solid team culture heading into the 2018 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship here in Dmitrov, Russia.”

Fillier, McQuigge, Veillette and Vorster competed for Canada at the 2017 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship, capturing silver, while Boyd and Fillier were on Team Ontario Red that won the 2017 National Women’s Under-18 Championship in Quebec City in November. All five players were part of a three-game series in Lake Placid, N.Y., where Canada faced the United States last August.

Canada will open its 2018 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship against the host Russians on Jan. 6 at 7:30 a.m. ET/4:30 a.m. PT. The schedule also has the Canadians facing Sweden and the United States in preliminary-round action, Jan. 7 and 9 respectively, before the tournament culminates with the gold-medal game at 11:30 a.m. ET/8:30 a.m. PT on Saturday, Jan. 13.

Canada will be looking to secure its first gold medal at the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship since 2014, having won gold four times (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014), and silver six times since the event’s inception in 2008.

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Women’s Team Program, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow through social media on Facebook, Twitter, and Twitter.com/HC_Women.