ECAC Hockey League Has 11 Invited to Canada's National Women's Fall Festival

ECAC Hockey League Has 11 Invited to Canada's National Women's Fall Festival

CALGARY, Alb. -- Hockey Canada announced yesterday (Aug. 30) that 57 of Canada's top female hockey players, including 11 with ECAC Hockey League ties, will be in attendance at the 2006-07 National Women's Team Fall Festival in Kenora, Ontario from September 2-10, 2006. Of the 11 ECACHL athletes, six won gold medals for Team Canada at the recent Winter Games in Italy.

Of the 11 ECACHL athletes, nine are still playing for their collegiate teams. St. Lawrence grad Gina Kingsbury '04 and Harvard's Jennifer Botterill '03, who were both on the Olympic Team, are the lone alumnae. However, fellow gold medalist Becky Kellar (Brown '97) was also invited, but had to decline, as she is expecting her second child.

Colgate's Tara French and Quinnipiac's Hayley McMeekin are their schools' lone representatives, while St. Lawrence tops the league's invitees with four selections - Annie Guay, Kerri Wallace, Sabrina Harbec and Kingsbury.

Dartmouth three athletes attending the festival in senior Olympic medalists Gillian Apps, Cherie Piper and Katie Weatherston, while Harvard's two medal winning selections are Sarah Vaillancourt and Botterill.

The players attending Canada's National Women's Team Fall Festival will be divided into three teams by the coaching staff and will play a series of intersquad games in Kenora. All practices and game day skates are open to the public free of charge.

The 57 players at the Festival will all be vying for positions with Canada's National Women's Team for events during the 2006-07 season, including the 2006 Four Nations Cup, in Kitchener, Ont., from Nov, 5-12, 2006, and the 2007 IIHF World Women's Championship, which will take place in Winnipeg and Selkirk, Manitoba from April 3-10, 2007.

The coaching and scouting staff will also use this Kenora camp as an opportunity to evaluate and identify players for upcoming seasons leading up to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, BC.

ECAC Hockey League Selections to Canada's Fall Festival

Colgate (1)
Tara French, Sr., D

Dartmouth (3)
Gillian Apps, Sr., F
Cherie Piper, Sr., F
Katie Weatherston, Sr., F

Harvard (2)
Jennifer Botterill, '03, F
Sarah Vaillancourt, So., F

Quinnipiac (1)
Hayley McMeekin, So., F

St. Lawrence (4)
Annie Guay, Jr., D
Kerri Wallace, Fr., D
Sabrina Harbec, Jr., F
Gina Kingsbury, '04, F