OTTAWA, Ont. – Hockey Canada announced Sunday the 23 players selected for Canada’s National Women’s Team during the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship, taking place April 7-14 in Burlington, Vt.

The announcement comes at the conclusion of Canada’s National Women’s Team selection camp, which ran March 26-31 in Ottawa, Ont., and included several practices at Carleton University’s Ice House, two exhibition games against Midget AAA boys’ team from Quebec, and concluded with a pre-competition match-up against rivals the United States at the Ottawa Civic Centre. Twenty-eight players from across the country came to the nation’s capital for selection camp, including 18 returnees from the Canadian contingent that claimed silver at the 2011 IIHF World Women’s Championship in Winterthur and Zurich, Switzerland, last April.

CLICK HERE FOR CANADA’S NATIONAL WOMEN’S TEAM ROSTER

“Congratulations to all of the players named to the final National Women’s Team roster for this year’s world championship, as well as to their families, coaches, and club teams,” said Kalli Quinn, director of female national teams for Hockey Canada. “This is an incredible accomplishment they should all take great pride in, and we’re confident they’ll make the entire country proud when they take to the ice later this month in Vermont.”

Canada’s National Women’s Team has been selected by head coach Dan Church (Toronto, Ont./York University, CIS), assistant coaches Doug Derraugh (Arnprior, Ont./Cornell University, ECAC) and Danielle Goyette (St-Nazaire, Que./University of Calgary, CIS), along with Hockey Canada’s head scout of national women’s team programs Melody Davidson. The team travels to Jay Peak, Vt., today to kick off a pre-competition camp that runs through Friday, April 6, and includes an exhibition at 7 p.m. ET at Jay Peak Ice House on Thursday, April 5.

“This week’s selection camp was extremely competitive and we had some tough decisions to make,” said Church. “We’re excited about the final roster and look forward to heading to Burlington for what will be a great week of world-class women’s hockey.”

Canada faces off against the United States for it opening game at the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 7. TSN and RDS, Hockey Canada’s official broadcasters, will air all of Canada’s games, including preliminary games against Finland at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 8 and Russia at 3 p.m. ET on Tuesday, April 10. The semifinals are scheduled for Friday, April 13 and medal matchups take place Saturday, April 14. Check your local listings for broadcast times in your area.

CLICK HERE FOR THE 2012 IIHF ICE HOCKEY WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

The 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship is the 14th since the tournament’s 1990 inception. Canada’s National Women’s Team has appeared in every world championship gold medal game, winning nine gold medals (1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2007) and four silver (2005, 2008, 2009 and 2011).