CALGARY 鈥� Defender Ava Murphy headlines the Canadian women's under-18 hockey team in its bid to defend its world title in Sweden in January.
Murphy of Kitchener, Ont., compiled two goals and three assists in six games to lead sa国际传媒 in the 2022 world under-18 championship in June in Madison, Wis.
She scored a goal and had an assist in a 3-2 win over the host U.S. in the final.
Murphy was among 23 players, including seven returnees, named to the roster Friday by Hockey sa国际传媒.
The 2023 championship Jan. 8-15 in Ostersund, Sweden, features eight countries.
sa国际传媒 is in a pool with Finland, the U.S. and Sweden and opens Jan. 8 against the Finns.
Jocelyn Amos of Ailsa Craig, Ont., Alexia Aubin of L茅vis, Que., Jordan Baxter of Coquitlam, sa国际传媒, Toronto's Piper Grober, Alex Law of Whitby, Ont., and Emmalee Pais of London, Ont., are the other returning players from the 2022 squad.
Former national women's team player Courtney Birchard-Kessel will coach sa国际传媒 in Sweden.
sa国际传媒 has won gold six times in the 14-year history of the tournament. The country's last back-to-back titles were in 2013 and 2014.
The tournament was cancelled in 2021 and delayed in 2022 because of COVID-19 pandemic.
Canadian under-18 alumni include current Canadian women's hockey team captain Marie-Philip Poulin and forward Sarah Nurse.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2022.
The Canadian Press
