U.S. Women's National Team Preliminary Roster Set | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Selection/Training Camp to Take Place in Ann Arbor, Mich., April 4-12; | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Thirty players were selected to the preliminary roster for the U.S. Women's National Team that will play in the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's Championship, as announced today by USA Hockey. The athletes will take part in a selection/training camp in Ann Arbor, Mich., from April 4-12, with the final 21-player roster set to be announced on April 9. The camp will take place at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube, home to USA Hockey's National Team Development Program, and will feature two pre-world championship games against Canada on April 7 and 8.The U.S. squad will depart on April 12 for the 2011 IIHF World Women's Championship, which runs from April 16-25 in Zurich and Winterthur, Switzerland. There, the Americans will be looking to defend their back-to-back world titles from 2008 and 2009 (a world championship was not held in 2010 due to the Olympic Winter Games).The preliminary roster includes 27 skaters (18 forwards, nine defensemen) and three goaltenders. The roster will be reduced by nine skaters to form the final 21-player squad. Sixteen members of the U.S. Women's National Team that competed in the 2010 Women's Four Nations Cup in November are vying for roster spots. There are a total of 16 Olympians on the preliminary list, including 15 who captured the world title with Team USA in 2009. Four players on the roster are coming off a gold-medal performance at the 2011 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship earlier this month, while a total of 12 have won gold medals with the U18 team.Preliminary Roster Highlights
The only two who have not competed in either an Olympics, World Championship or World U18 Championship are Josephine Pucci (Pearl River, N.Y.), who skated in the 2010 Women's Four Nations Cup, and Jen Schoullis (Erie, Pa.), who played in the 2010 Under-22 Series. Nine players have not yet seen action at the senior level, including Blake Bolden (Stow, Ohio), Megan Bozek (Buffalo Grove, Ill.), Hannah Brandt (Vadnais Heights, Minn.), Carpenter, Amanda Kessel (Madison, Wis.), Amanda Pelkey (Montpelier, Vt.), Schoullis, Kelley Steadman (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) and Taylor Wasylk (Port Huron, Mich.). Kessel was named to the U.S. Women's National Team for the 2010 Women's Four Nations Cup, but missed the tournament due to injury ... Team USA has won three gold medals and nine silvers in the 12 previous IIHF World Women’s Championships. The U.S. has won three of the last four world championships (2005, 2008, 2009) … As previously announced, Harvard University's Katey Stone will serve as the head coach of the U.S. Women's National Team. Joining Stone as assistant coaches will be Mark Hudak, head women's ice hockey coach at Dartmouth College, and Hilary Witt, assistant women's ice hockey coach at Northeastern University. Stone, Hudak and Witt were all behind the bench for the U.S. at the 2010 Women's Four Nations Cup. Team USA 2011 IIHF World Women’s Championship Schedule April 16-25 • Zurich & Winterthur, Switzerland
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
