CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada announced Monday the 23 players that have been selected for Canada’s National Women’s Team for the 2011 4 Nations Cup, taking place November 9-14 in Nyköping, Sweden.

The 2011 4 Nations Cup roster includes three goaltenders, seven defencemen and 13 forwards, who were selected following Canada’s National Women’s Team September Camp/Fall Festival, which took place September 17-25 in Calgary, Alta.

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The 2011 4 Nations Cup will bring together the top four women’s hockey countries in the world – Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States – for the 16th annual international tournament. Canada’s National Women’s Team has won the gold medal at the 3 Nations Cup/4 Nations Cup a total of 12 times, including last November at the 2010 4 Nations Cup in St. John’s and Clarenville, N.L., and has claimed silver three times.

Canada’s National Women’s Team for the 2011 4 Nations Cup includes:

· 11 players who represented Canada at the 2011 IIHF 12 Nations Invitational Tournament in Vierumäki, Finland (Agosta, Apps, Bendus, Birchard, Hefford, Irwin, Kessler, Larocque, Scanzano, Slusar and Wakefield);

· eight players who attended Canada’s National Women’s Under-22/Development Team training camp in Rockland, Ont. (Daoust, Fortino, Jenner, McKeough, Poudrier, Poulin, Rougeau and Spooner);

· four players who attended the 2011 IIHF High Performance Women’s Camp in Bratislava, Slovakia (Bendus, Birchard, Kessler and Scanzano);

· 16 members of Canada’s National Women’s Team that won gold at the 2010 4 Nations Cup in Clarenville and St. John’s, N.L. (Agosta, Apps, Bendus, Birchard, Hefford, Irwin, Jenner, Johnston, Kessler, Larocque, Poulin, Slusar, Spooner, Szabados, Wakefield and Wickenheiser);

· nine members of Canada’s gold medal-winning team from the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C. (Agosta, Apps, Hefford, Irwin, Johnston, Labonté, Poulin, Szabados and Wickenheiser).

Defencemen Laura Fortino (Hamilton, Ont./Cornell University, ECAC), Stefanie McKeough (Carlsbad Springs, Ont./University of Wisconsin, WCHA), Cassandra Poudrier (Lachenaie, Que./Dawson College, CEGEP) and Lauriane Rougeau (Beaconsfield, Que./Cornell University, ECAC), along with forward Mélodie Daoust (Valleyfield, Que./McGill University, QSSF), will make their debuts with Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2011 4 Nations Cup.

“We’re very excited about the roster we’ve assembled for this year’s 4 Nations Cup,” said Dan Church, head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Team for the 2011 4 Nations Cup. “Our team has a great combination of fresh faces and seasoned veterans, which will be pivotal in developing our player pool, and we can’t wait for them to take to the ice in Sweden to defend Canada’s gold medal.”

Church will be joined behind the bench at the 2011 4 Nations Cup by assistant coaches Doug Derraugh (Arnprior, Ont./Cornell University, ECAC) and Danielle Goyette (St-Nazaire, Que./University of Calgary, CWUAA), who also served as assistants with him at the 2011 IIHF 12 Nations Invitational Tournament and 2011 National Women’s Team September Camp/Fall Festival.

“Our goal is to be at the top of our game at the 2011 4 Nations Cup, and then carry that momentum not just into the rest of the 2011-12 season, but into our continued preparation for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games,” said Kalli Quinn, director of female national teams for Hockey Canada. “This event is an important step on our road to both Burlington, Vermont and Sochi, Russia.”

The 2011 4 Nations Cup will serve as an evaluation opportunity for Canada’s National Women’s Team coaching staff and Hockey Canada scouts, led by head scout of National Women’s Team programs Melody Davidson.

Following the tournament, all players that attended Canada’s National Women’s Team September Camp/Fall Festival will continue to be monitored with their club teams throughout the 2011-12 season, in order to select those that will represent Canada at the 2012 MLP Cup in Germany in January and the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Burlington, Vt., in April.

Follow Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2011 4 Nations Cup at www.twitter.com/HC_TeamCanada, become a fan of Hockey Canada on Facebook for updates from Sweden at www.facebook.com/HockeyCanada and for more information on Canada’s National Women’s Team, please visit www.HockeyCanada.ca.