CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada has invited 47 of the nation’s top female players to attend the BFL National Women’s Team Fall Festival, set for Sept. 9-15 in Liverpool, N.S.

The athletes selected for the annual camp will be split in two teams – Red and White – for the week-long camp on the South Shore. The camp will feature four games, two intrasquad and two against local junior hockey clubs, along with practices and off-ice sessions.

Player selections were led by Gina Kingsbury (Rouyn-Noranda, Que.), Hockey Canada’s director of women’s national teams, along with Melody Davidson (Oyen, Alta.), Hockey Canada’s head scout for women’s national teams.

• 22 players who won a bronze medal with Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2019 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Espoo, Finland (Ambrose, Bettez, Bourbonnais, Clark, Daoust, Fast, Fortino, Gabel, Jenner, Johnston, Lacasse, Lacquette, Larocque, Maschmeyer, Nurse, Poulin, Rattray, Saulnier, Spooner, Stacey, Turnbull, Zandee-Hart)
• 10 players who were part of Canada’s National Women’s Development Team for a three-game series against the United States in Lake Placid, N.Y., earlier this month (Bell, Bourbonnais, Fillier, Gosling, Maltais, O’Neill, A. Potomak, Shelton, Shirley, Thompson)

The BFL National Women’s Team Fall Festival is an annual training camp aimed at helping develop and evaluate the nation’s top female players. It marks the first opportunity for the coaching staff to work with the athletes on and off the ice this season, and is a critical component of selecting the team that will go for gold on home ice at the 2020 IIHF Women’s World Championship next spring in Halifax and Truro, N.S.

“This camp will set the tone for this season, and we are excited to start the second year of our four-year Olympic cycle as we look ahead to competing at the IIHF Women’s World Championship on home ice,” said Kingsbury. “Fall Festival allows us to evaluate our depth chart, continue to grow as a group and strengthen our team identity on and off the ice.”

All practices at the BFL National Women’s Team Fall Festival in Liverpool are free and open to the public. Fans can also reserve their spot to watch Team Canada by purchasing a ticket package for $20 plus fees and taxes at TicketPro.ca or the Queens Place Emera Centre box office. The package includes one ticket to each of the four games, which run from Sept. 11-14.

National Women’s Team alumnae return to coach

Four prominent former players will make their return to Canada’s National Women’s Team for the 2019-20 season, lending their expertise as part of the staff at Fall Festival.

Former Team Canada captain and two-time Olympic gold medallist, Cassie Campbell-Pascall (Brampton, Ont.), will work alongside Kingsbury as an advisor to Canada’s National Women’s Program.

Caroline Ouellette (Montreal, Que./Concordia University, RSEQ), a four-time Olympic gold medallist, as well as Danielle Goyette (St-Nazaire, Que./University of Calgary, CW) and Carla MacLeod (Calgary/Edge School, CSSHL), who are both two-time Olympic gold medallists, will serve as camp coaches. All three coaches will collaborate with head coach Perry Pearn (Stettler, Alta.), associate coach Troy Ryan (Spryfield, N.S.) and assistant coach Doug Derraugh (Arnprior, Ont./Cornell University, ECAC) at various events and tournaments throughout the season.

Hockey Canada, in partnership with Hockey Nova Scotia and the Province of Nova Scotia, will host the 2020 IIHF Women’s World Championship from March 31-April 10 in Halifax and Truro. Canada’s National Women’s Team will look to capture its first world title since 2012, and first on home ice since 2007 in Winnipeg and Selkirk, Man.

Canada has won 10 gold medals at the IIHF Women’s World Championship, in addition to eight silver medals and one bronze. 

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