University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Selected for USA, Canada Events
12/6/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
USA Hockey release | Hockey Canada release
MINNEAPOLIS - Nine current, future, and past Gophers have been invited to the USA Hockey Women's Winter Training Camp from December 12-15, 2016 at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan, and two more future Gophers will skate for Canada at the 2017 IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship, USA Hockey and Hockey Canada announced this week.
University of Minnesota alumnae Megan Bozek, Hannah Brandt, Amanda Kessel, Gigi Marvin, and Anne Schleper join current Gophers Dani Cameranesi, Kelly Pannek, and Lee Stecklein, along with 2017-18 signee Grace Zumwinkle at the camp, which will be used to evaluate and select the U.S. Women's Select Team for a pair of games against Canada on Saturday, Dec. 17 in Plymouth, Mich., and Sunday, Dec. 19 in Sarnia, Ontario. It is also used to help formulate the U.S. Women's National Team roster for the 2017 IIHF Women's World Championship.
All practices and scrimmages at the 2016 USA Hockey Women's Winter Training Camp will be open to the public. Twenty-nine of the 37 players on the roster took part in last year's camp. The game on Saturday, Dec. 17 is part of the first-ever Team USA Winter Champions Series, a day-long celebration of the Road to Pyeongchang that will feature three Olympic events. In addition to hockey, which will be broadcast on NBCSN, the series will include luge and big air snowboarding.
In addition, future Gophers Amy Potomak (Aldergrove, B.C.) and Olivia Knowles (Campbell River, B.C.) have been selected to represent their native Canada at the 2017 IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship. The duo is among seven players returning from Canada's 2016 silver medal team. Potomak and Knowles both skated for Canada's National Women's Under-18 Team in a three-game series against the United States in August in Calgary, Alberta as well.
The 2017 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship is set for Jan. 7-15 in Prerov and Zlin, Czech Republic. Canada opens up the 2017 IIHF U-18 Women's World Championship against Sweden on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 12:30 p.m. CT, and will also take on Russia on Sunday, Jan. 8 at 8:30 a.m. CT before facing the United States on Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 8:30 a.m. CT. The bronze-medal and gold-medal games are scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 14.
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