Hockey Canada announces Summer Showcase rosters

Hockey Canada announced on Thursday the rosters for its annual Summer Showcase, which will take place Aug. 5-13 in Calgary, Alta. Twenty-seven players were invited to the under-22 National Women's Development Team selection camp and 43 received invitations to the Under-18 camp. The press release also formally announced the presence of the Japanese national team and a U SPORTS all-star squad at the development camp, as well as the Russian U18 team's participation in the Under-18 camp.

The development team will once again be coached by Noémie Marin, the CWHL's third-leading all-time scorer. All development camp invitees were born between 1996 and 1999, marking a return to the team's traditional U22 format after several years of including overage players.

The addition of a U SPORTS roster in a non-Universiade year is a notable first for the event. This move suggests a stronger focus on scouting and developing Canadian university players, who have been poorly represented within the Hockey Canada high performance structure in recent years.

Japan's senior team's participation will provide a competitive opponent for the U22 prospects, while also assisting in the Japanese program's preparations for the 2018 Winter Olympics. A 34-player selection camp for the Japanese squad wrapped up in Tomakomai on July 20.

Russia's U18 side, which won bronze at the 2017 U18 Women's World Championship, will face off against the Canadian U18 players, who will be split into two teams for the camp.

Twenty-three of the 42 Canadian players scheduled to attend the U18 camp will be selected to represent Canada in a three-game series against their American counterparts in Lake Placid, N.Y., from Aug. 17-20.

The U18 camp staff also features some familiar CWHL faces, with current and recent stand-outs Kori Cheverie, Sarah Edney, Erica Howe, and Emily Fulton making their Hockey Canada coaching debuts.