CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada announced Sunday the 22 players named to Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team, which will compete in a three-game series against the United States’ Women’s Under-18 National Team from Aug. 21-24 at WinSport’s Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary.

The 13 forwards, seven defencemen and two goaltenders were chosen following Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team selection camp, held Aug. 7-17. Players were divided into two teams, Red and White, and competed in three intrasquad games during selection camp.

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team features:

• three players who won a gold medal with Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team at the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in Budapest, Hungary (Cogan, Hart, Potomak)

• two players who won a gold medal with Ontario Red at the 2013 National Women’s Under-18 Championship in Calgary (Cogan, Sucharda)

• four players who attended the 2014 IIHF Women’s High Performance Camp in Vierumäki, Finland (Gebhard, Houston, Hunt, Pelletier)

• one player who competed at the 2014 Esso Cup, Canada’s National Female Midget Championship, in Stoney Creek, Ont. (Poznikoff – Edmonton Thunder, silver medal) 

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team by province:

• Ontario – nine (Agnew, Cogan, Eastwood, McGill, O’Neill, Pozzebon, Quaranta, Sucharda, Tse)
• Manitoba – three (Higham, Houston, Hunt) 
• Alberta – two (Labbe, Poznikoff)
• British Columbia – two (Hart, Potomak)
• New Brunswick – two (Boissonnault, Pelletier)
• Quebec – two (Audet, Coutu-Godbout)
• Nova Scotia – one (Jackson)
• Saskatchewan – one (Gebhard)

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team was selected by Melody Davidson, general manager of national women’s team programs, and Hockey Canada’s team of scouts, along with Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team head coach Cassandra Turner, and assistant coaches Delaney Collins and Jackie Friesen.

“As is typical for a national team camp, there were absolutely no easy decisions,” Turner said. “The 42 players who came to Calgary should be extremely proud of their efforts, and as a staff we could not be more excited to move forward with these 22 and prepare for the U.S. later this week. We have no doubt they will represent the country with the same pride and passion they showed during selection camp.”

The puck drops on the three-game series against the United States on Aug. 21 (5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT), with other games scheduled for Aug. 22 (8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT) and Aug. 24 (3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT).

All three games will be streamed live on the game summary page at www.hockeycanada.ca.

Following the series, Hockey Canada scouts, along with the team’s coaching staff, will continue to evaluate players with their provincial and club teams during the 2014-15 season, in preparation for selecting the Canadian team that will compete at the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship next January in Buffalo, N.Y.

NOTE TO MEDIA: Please contact Hockey Canada media relations intern Kara Spady for any interview requests at (403) 741-9971.

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca, or follow along through social media at www.facebook.com/hockeycanada, www.twitter.com/hockeycanada and www.twitter.com/hc_women.