University of Minnesota Athletics
Duo Named to Canada's Nations Cup Team
12/12/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
CALGARY, Alberta - University of Minnesota sophomore Lindsay Agnew and Gopher signee Amy Potomak are among the 21 players selected to compete for Canada's National Women's Development Team at the 2018 Nations Cup in Füssen, Germany, Jan. 3-6, 2018.
Agnew is one of five returners from Canada's silver-medal winning team at the 2017 Nations Cup on this year's roster, which includes two goaltenders, seven defensemen, and 12 forwards. Potomak is one of four players on the roster who earned silver at the 2017 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship as well.
The Nations Cup - previously hosted under the names Air Canada Cup, MLP Cup, and Meco Cup - features Canada's National Women's Development Team as well as national teams from Finland, Germany, Russia, Sweden, and Switzerland this year for four days of competition.
Player selections were led by Melody Davidson, Hockey Canada's general manager of national women's team programs, and Gina Kingsbury, director of national women's team programs for Hockey Canada, alongside the team's coaching staff - head coach Noémie Marin, assistant coaches Carla MacLeod, and Matt Desrosiers, and goaltending consultant Gord Woodhall - with input from the organization's regional scouts.
"Following a very successful summer camp where we had the opportunity to play teams from U SPORTS and Japan, we continued to evaluate players as they embarked on regular season action with their club teams to come to this group of players who will represent Canada at the Nations Cup," said Kingsbury, a two-time Olympic gold-medalist for Canada in women's hockey.
"These players are part of the up-and-coming Canadian talent that we are tracking as we look towards next year's IIHF Women's World Championship and beyond to the 2022 Games. To be able to provide opportunities for them to play high-level, international events like the Nations Cup is invaluable for them as players, and for us as a management group as we continue to build our pipeline to Canada's National Women's Team."
Canada will open the 2018 Nations Cup against Finland at 8 a.m. CT on Wednesday, Jan. 3. The schedule also has the team facing Russia on Thursday, Jan. 4 before the tournament culminates with the gold-medal game at 12 p.m. CT on Saturday, Jan. 6.
A pre-tournament game is also planned for Saturday, Dec. 30 against Austria.
Canada has won gold 11 times at the Nations Cup (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016).
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