Canadian women reload for hockey worlds

Hockey Canada announced Tuesday the 22 players on the roster as the Canadian women compete for the world hockey championship next month in Finland.

Coach Melody Davidson will have a squad that includes 16 women from the team that lost at last year's world championship in China. Canada has won the world title nine of 11 times.

There are 14 veterans from the team that won Olympic gold in 2006 in Torino, Italy. They include goalies Kim St. Pierre and Charline Labonte and four defenders: Carla MacLeod, Becky Kellar, Colleen Sostorics and Gillian Ferrari.

"Obviously we want the most talented players we can get," Davidson told CBCSports.ca during a media conference call on Tuesday. "We feel on the back end we've got a nice mix of defensive defencemen and offensive defencemen.

Like Kellar and Sostorics, forwards Jayna Hefford, Jennifer Botterill, Caroline Ouellette and Hayley Wickenheiser also played on the 2002 team that won Olympic gold in Salt Like City.

Gillian Apps, Meghan Agosta, Sarah Vaillancourt and Gina Kingsbury are the other remaining forwards who were on the roster for the Torino Games.

"Up front we've had what a lot of what you might term the younger players as a part of Torino, and then through our under-18 and under-22 programs some others have blossomed and we're excited to see how they'll come about," said Davidson.

Canada begins play in the tournament on April 4 against China, with a preliminary round game against Sweden two days later.

After losing at last year's worlds, Davidson said there is a mix of team and personal motivation.

"I think that's been there since September for them coming out of China, the players knew what was at stake this year, not only in terms of Four Nations [Cup] and world championships, but also in terms of their careers and their spots on the team," she said.

Tessa Bonhomme on defence, and forwards Meaghan Mikkelson and Rebecca Johnston, are back from last year's world championshp team.

The alternate is 19-year-old Jennifer Wakefield. The youngest player on the squad is Marie-Philip Poulin of Beauceville, Que., who turns 18 later this month.

Defenceman Catherine Ward, forward Haley Irwin, and goalie Shannon Szabados round out the squad.

"[Szabados] is a former under-22 player who can definitely challenge Charlie and Kim," said Davidson.

Wickenheiser, who has played professionally with men in Finland and Sweden, is looking forward to the homecoming of sorts.

"I've got a lot of friends over there that are going to watch, a good contingent of Swedes and Finns in the stands, so it could interesting in the stands," she joked.

Aiming for 3rd straight Olympic gold

The women will have a chance to stake their claim to one of the coveted spots for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, as Canada targets a third consecutive gold medal.

It was also announced that camp for the 2009-10 season will begin Aug. 26 in Calgary. There are four players not on the world roster also eligible for a spot at the Olympics, including forwards Cherie Piper and Brianne Jenner, and defenders Delaney Collins and Jocelyne Larocque.

Piper was on the Olympic teams of 2002 and 2006.

Jenner, 17, was the captain of the most recent U-18 world squad.

"Our program is so strong and so deep, and the young players have had so much international experience by the time they get to the senior program," said Hefford.

Kellar is the oldest on the team, at 34, while Hefford and Collins will be 32 in May.

Two national team veterans were left out after Tuesday's announcement: forward Katie Weatherston and defenceman Cheryl Pounder.

Weatherston, 25, has been injured for most of this season and unable to participate in camps. Pounder, 32, took last season off to have a baby but had returned to the national team program this year.