"We want to congratulate all 42 players who took part in the selection camp, and thank our staff for a phenomenal week. As we expected, these young women showed up ready to work hard both on and off the ice, and they made our decision very difficult," said Delaney Collins, head coach of Canada's National Women's Under-18 Team. "Congratulations to the 24 players who were selected to play in Lake Placid; you've earned this opportunity, and we’re excited to work with you and continue to see you develop over this upcoming series."
While Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan will have the most representation on the team in terms of which provinces the girls call home, the roster is made up of a unique mix of players. Four players are returning silver medalists from the 2017 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship, and five played in the 2016 three-game summer series against the United States. I'll denote these players on the roster below so you can see who the returning "veterans" are, but there are some other interesting notes from the development camp that just finished.
First, Logan Angers of the St. Mary's Academy Flames in Winnipeg had an outstanding camp statistically, but was not chosen as one of the goaltenders. Her stats line of 30 saves on 31 shots, a 0.64 GAA, and a .968 save percentage in three appearances would have led me to believe that she made the cut, but she was victimized for her only goal-against in the final intra-squad squad in overtime to give Canada-Black a win over Angers' Canada-Red team. I'm not saying this is the reason why she was cut, but her stats were arguably as good or better than the three goalies selected. That's not to say that any of the goalies who were selected don't deserve the honour, but it goes to show just how close the competition is when it comes to picking the right players for this opportunity.
Second, it seems this team is built not for this three-game series, but the eventual goal of capturing the gold medal at the 2018 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship in Dmitrov, Russia. I have no issue with this future planning at all, but I would like to see Canada lock in on the majority of players they want for that tournament. As Hockey Canada's press release states, "Hockey Canada scouts, along with the team's coaching staff and general manager, will continue to evaluate players with their provincial and club teams during the 2017-18 season, including at the 2017 National Women's Under-18 Championship in Quebec City". That means that players like Angers or any of the other women sent home could be back to play with the team in Russia if they continue to see their stocks rise. I believe that they have a good idea of who they want on that squad, but you just don't want to mess with chemistry too much as the tournament approaches.
After saying all that, here are the 24 women who will represent Canada later this week in the three-game set.
The ladies will begin their quest to gold this Thursday against the US U18 women's team in Lake Placid followed by Game Two on Friday and Game Three on Sunday. The overall results of this three-game series with the American women isn't focused on winning or losing, but developing a squad that's ready for Russia. If the end is a gold medal, I'm ok with the means if we lose all three games despite playing hard. After all, the big dance happens in Russia in January.
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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