DAWSON CREEK HOSTS U-18

Hockey Canada, in partnership with BC Hockey and the City of Dawson Creek, announced Friday the game schedule for the 2012 National Women’s Under-18 Championship, taking place Nov. 7-11 at the EnCana Events Centre in Dawson Creek.

Defending gold medallist Ontario Red will play in Group A, along with Team Atlantic, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, while Group B consists of last year’s silver medallist Quebec, bronze medallist Manitoba, Alberta and Ontario Blue.

Alberta and Manitoba face off in the tournament’s opening game Wednesday, Nov. 7 at 10 a.m. (MT), while host team BC will play Saskatchewan in the opening day’s feature game.

The top two teams from each group in the preliminary round will play in semi-finals November 10th with the Bronze medal game set for noon.

The winners will facing off for the Gold medal at 4 pm Sunday, November 11^th.

This will be the fourth time British Columbia has hosted the National Women’s Under-18 Championship, with Surrey welcoming the event in 2009 and Salmon Arm holding the January 2005 and November 2005 editions of the tournament. Ontario Red has won the gold medal all seven times since the event’s 2001 inception in Trois-Rivières, Que.

“BC Hockey is excited to bring the National Women’s Under-18 Championship back to the west coast,” said BC Hockey president Wilf Liefke. “Our growing success in hosting this prestigious event in both 2005 and 2009 is proof that this year’s tournament will be even bigger and better.”

“The City of Dawson Creek proudly hosted a National Women’s Team conditioning camp just prior to Canada winning a gold medal at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, and can’t wait to welcome more of the country’s top female players to the community,” said host committee co-chair Chante Patterson-Elden”.

The National Women’s Under-18 Championship brings together teams made up of the best female hockey players born in 1992 or later. The tournament serves as an important platform for Hockey Canada scouts, led by head scout of women’s national team Melody Davidson.

They are who are evaluating candidates for the Canadian contingent that will compete at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in Vierumäki, Finland in January 2013.