CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada announced Thursday the 40 players that will attend Canada’s National Women’s Team September Camp/Fall Festival, taking place Sept. 22-30 at the WinSport Canada Athletic & Ice Complex in Calgary.

The camp roster includes four goaltenders, 13 defencemen and 23 forwards, who will be split up into Red and White teams for several practices and intrasquad games. The nine-day camp will also include exhibition games against Midget AAA teams from the Alberta Midget Hockey League.

The September Camp/Fall Festival will serve as an important evaluation opportunity for Canada’s National Women’s Team coaching staff, led by head coach Dan Church (Toronto, Ont./York University, CIS), and Hockey Canada’s team of scouts, led by head scout of women’s national team programs Melody Davidson. Following the camp, players will be monitored at international events, such as the 2012 4 Nations Cup in Finland, as well as with their club teams during the 2012-13 season. These evaluations will assist coaches and scouts in selecting the team that will represent Canada at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Ottawa, Ont., next April, and the players that will be centralized with Canada’s National Women’s Team in Calgary for the 2013-14 season, leading up to the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

Hockey Canada also announced Thursday that Lisa Haley (Jordan) will serve as an assistant coach with Canada’s National Women’s Team for this year’s September Camp/Fall Festival and the 2012 4 Nations Cup. Haley (Westville, N.S./Ryerson University, CIS) joins Church and fellow assistant coach Danielle Goyette (St-Nazaire, Que./University of Calgary, CIS) behind the bench.

Haley has served three times previously as an assistant coach with Canada’s National Women’s Team at the IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship, winning gold in 2012 and silver in 20. Most recently, she was the head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Under-22/Development Team for a three-game series against the United States in Calgary last month, the second time she has served as under-22 head coach after the 2005-06 season. Haley has also been a U22 assistant coach on two occasions, during the 2003--05 seasons, and was an assistant coach with Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team for the 2009-10 season, winning a gold medal at the 2010 IIHF World Women’s U18 Championship.    

It’s truly an honour and a privilege each and every time I receive the call to join Team Canada behind the bench,” Haley said. “I look forward to working alongside Dan and Danielle once again, and to bringing my experience from both Hockey Canada and Canadian Interuniversity Sport to my term as assistant coach with our National Women’s Team at this fall’s training camp and the 2012 4 Nations Cup.”

The roster for Canada’s National Women’s Team September Camp/Fall Festival includes:

• All 23 players who won a gold medal with Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Burlington, Vt. (Agosta, Apps, Bendus, Birchard, Bonhomme, Bram, Fortino, Hefford, Irwin, Jenner, Johnston, Labonté, Lacasse, Larocque, Mikkelson, Ouellette, Poulin, Rougeau, Spooner, Szabados, Wakefield, Ward and Wickenheiser);
• Three players who won a gold medal with Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team at the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in Prerov and Zlin, Czech Republic (Ambrose, Lefort and Stacey);
• Twenty-one players who won a silver medal with Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2011 4 Nations Cup in Nyköping, Sweden (Agosta, Apps, Bendus, Birchard, Daoust, Fortino, Hefford, Irwin, Jenner, Johnston,  Kessler, Larocque, Ouellette, Poudrier, Poulin, Rougeau, Slusar, Spooner, Szabados, Wakefield and Wickenheiser);
• Seven players who won a bronze medal with Canada’s National Women’s Under-22/Development Team at the 2012 Meco Cup in Füssen and Sonththofen, Germany (Campbell, Edney, Lacasse, Poudrier, Rattray, Saulnier, Watchorn);
• Thirteen members of Canada’s gold medal-winning team from the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C. (Agosta, Apps, Bonhomme, Hefford, Irwin, Johnston, Labonté, Mikkelson, Ouellette, Poulin, Szabados, Ward and Wickenheiser);
• Thirty players who attended last season’s September Camp/Fall Festival (Agosta, Apps, Bendus, Birchard, Bonhomme, Bram, Campbell, Daoust, Fortino, Hefford, Irwin, Jenner, Johnston, Kessler, Kohanchuk, Labonté, Lacasse, Larocque, Mikkelson, Ouellette, Poudrier, Poulin, Prévost, Rougeau, Slusar, Spooner, Szabados, Wakefield, Ward and Wickenheiser);
• Twenty-one players from the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (Agosta, Apps, Bendus, Birchard, Bonhomme, Bram, Hefford, Irwin, Johnston, Kessler, Labonté, Lacasse, Larocque, Mikkelson, Ouellette, Prevost Slusar, Spooner, Wakefield, Ward and Watchorn);
• Sixteen players playing U.S. college hockey (Ambrose, Campbell, Davis, Edney, Fortino, Jenner, Kohanchuk, Lacquette, Lefort, Poudrier, Poulin, Rattray, Rougeau, Saulnier, Stacey and Terry);
• Two players from Canadian Interuniversity Sport (Daoust and Wickenheiser);
• One player from the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (Szabados);

“This will be a very competitive camp featuring 40 extremely talented players,” said Kalli Quinn, director of female national teams for Hockey Canada. “It will be exciting to see the top National Women’s Team candidates from across the country come together for a week of fast-paced, highly skilled hockey.”  

For more information on Canada’s National Women’s Program and Hockey Canada, please visit www.HockeyCanada.ca/NWT, or follow along through social media at www.Facebook.com/HockeyCanada, www.Twitter.com/HockeyCanada and www.Twitter.com/HC_TeamCanada.