Team Canada... Assemble!

There will be a number of exceptional athletes from across the Canadian landscape putting in a little work before they break for the holidays in December as the Canadian delegation for the 30th FISU Winter Universiade was announced today! A number of sports will be played in Lucerne, Switzerland from December 11 to 21, but this blog is only concerned with the hockey event. More specifically, it will be focusing on the Canada women who have been selected to represent this country in the ice event as the Canadians seek to return to the top of the podium after a handful of silver medals thanks to some questionable Russian entries.

It should be noted that the men's and women's hockey events run concurrently over the ten-day period starting on December 10, but at different rinks in Switzerland. The women will play out of Sursee for the preliminary round before moving to the larger rink in Zug for the medal round whereas the men will play all games in Zug for the entirety of the tournament. There are six women's teams and ten men's teams competing at the Universiade, and I do wonder when we'll see those numbers even out so more women's teams can participate.

The Canadian women will tangle with Japan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Switzerland, and the USA in their tournament, and it should be noted that the US women are largely from Division-III NCAA programs as opposed to Division-I programs. That's not to say they won't or can't compete with the likes of some of the nationally-chosen teams such as Switzerland or Russia. The Americans won a bronze medal in 2019, so they're going to be one of the stronger teams. Both Japan and Russia are always strong, so it will be a challenge for the host team in Switzerland and Kazakhstan when it comes to finding the podium.

Who is Canada sending in the hopes of returning with gold medals?

That's a pretty decent team from what I can gather, and it appears that there is a good representation from Canada West with the likes of Saskatchewan's Bailee Bourassa, Mount Royal's Anna Purschke, UBC's Shay-Lee McConnell, Alberta's Madison Willan and Kirsten Chamberlin, and Manitoba's Lauren Warkentin all being named to the roster heading to Lucerne in December.

If we're talking about conference breakdowns, the RSEQ leads the way with ten players chosen, but we shouldn't be surprised when we see that Danièle Sauvageau, who works at the University of Montreal, is the general manager of the team. Beyond that, Canada West has six players going, the OUA is sending five players, and the AUS has two players heading to Switzerland.

The staff that will head to Switzerland is pretty impressive. Manitoba's Jon Rempel will be the head coach of the team, and he'll be joined on the bench by UNB head coach Sarah Hilworth, Wilfred Laurier head coach Kelly Paton, Ottawa assistant coach Greg Bowles, and Guelph associate coach Kaitlyn Mora. Helping out the netminders with be UNB goalie coach Kyle MacDonald, and the equipment duties will be handled by Manitoba's Matt Relf. There's a ton of experience on this staff both as players and as coaches, so I expect Canada to have all sorts of options when it comes to strategies and ideas.

The schedule for the Canadian women is as follows:

• Saturday, December 11 at 12:00pm (5am CT) - vs Japan
• Sunday, December 12 at 7:00pm (12pm CT) - vs Switzerland
• Tuesday, December 14 at 7:00pm (12pm CT) - vs USA
• Wednesday, December 15 at 3:30pm (8:30am) - vs Kazakhstan
• Friday, December 17 at 7:00pm (12pm CT) - vs Russia

If we're keeping an eye on that schedule, Canada gets the Russians one day after the Russians tangle with the Americans, so it will have to be seen what the Russians have left for Canada after that battle with the USA. In any case, that December 17 game might be a gold-medal game preview, so this writer will be keeping an eye on that game for sure.

As a quick note before we get out of here, the Canadian men are the reigning bronze medallists from 2019, so they're looking to not only land back on the podium, but move up the podium as well. Among the players we know from Canada West are Saskatchewan's Gordie Ballhorn, Connor Hobbs, Donovan Heuls, and Jared Dmytriw, Calgary's Ryan Gagnon and Ryan Graham, and Manitoba's Colton Veloso. I was rather shocked that none of Alberta, UBC, nor Mount Royal were sending players to compete, but that's their call if they decided not to make players available.

The men's side of the draw should be pretty solid, and there's a big addition to the event as Estonia makes its first appearance in the men's hockey competition. Along with them and Canada, teams from the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Korea, Russia, Slovakia, Switzerland, and the USA all play for gold. The fun part is that Estonia's first game ever at the FISU Universiade men's hockey competition will be against Canada on December 10 at 5:00pm (10am CT), so keep an eye on Estonia as they get one of the better teams right off the bat in Lucerne!

It should be another great Universiade tournament for both the men and the women, and HBIC will be keep track of the happenings in Lucerne in December. I won't be there since U SPORTS doesn't know nor does it care if I exist, but I'll do my duty for you, readers, and bring you all the updates from Switzerland!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!