Baribeau, Ptolemy Earn Invite to Canada's U-22 Camp

Juana Baribeau (l) and Katelyn Ptolemy

Hockey Canada has announced the 42 players who have been invited to the National Women's Under-22 Team selection camp, August 7-14, including Clarkson sophomores Juana Baribeau and Katelyn Ptolemy.

The camp will be held at Father David Bauer Olympic Arena in Calgary. Of the 42 players, nearly one-third (13) are current, incoming or former ECAC Hockey standouts.

The players were selected to be part of the selection camp based on evaluations done by Hockey Canada regional scouts and the National Women’s Team coaching staff during the 2008-09 season. These evaluations included performances with Canada’s national team, under-18 and under-22 programs, their club teams, alongJuana Baribeau with the National Women's Under-22 Team strength and conditioning/skating camp in May in Calgary, among other criteria.

Baribeau made a big impression in her inaugural collegiate campaign at Clarkson and was named to ECAC Hockey’s All-Rookie Team as a left wing. The Golden Knights’ third-leading scorer with 33 points, she scored 18 goals to go along with 15 assists through 36 games. Baribeau, a native of Amos, QUE, was named Clarkson’s Rookie of the Year.

A solid, steady performer on the blueline in her first season with the Green and Gold, Ptolemy skated in all 36 games, recording six assists and a +5 plus/minus rating. A native of Dinsmore, SASK, Ptolemy played for Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 Team that competed at the 2009 MLP Cup (formerly the Air Canada Cup), January 2-6, 2009 in Ravensburg, Germany.

Katelyn PtolemyAlong with Baribeau and Ptolemy, ECAC Hockey standouts invited to the camp include Cornell forwards Catherine White, Chelsea Karpenko, and incoming freshmen defensemen Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau; Dartmouth forward Reagan Fischer; Harvard goaltender Christina Kessler; and St. Lawrence forward Alley Bero, forward Karell Emard, former standout defenseman Annie Guay, defenseman Brittaney Maschmeyer and defenseman Britni Smith.

In addition to the 38 players who were born in 1988 or later, Hockey Canada added four players to the roster who had previously used up their under-22 eligibility, including Guay. These players were eligible for Canada’s National Women’s Team, but were not selected for centralization ahead of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. As Hockey Canada does not operate a program for identified senior players that have not been centralized, these four players will train with the under-22 program for the 2009-10 season. All four players previously played for Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 Team.

The players attending camp are eligible to represent Canada at the 2010 MLP Cup in Ravensburg, Germany in early January. Canada has won the tournament six times in seven years, losing just two games. Hockey Canada will use the camp to select 22 players for a three-game series against Canada’s National Women’s Team in Calgary in mid August.

Karpenko, Kessler, Maschmeyer, Ptolemy, Rougeau and Smith are among 17 players who return from last year's National Women's Under-22 Team, while six members of Canada’s silver medal-winning 2009 National Women’s Under-18 Team, including Fortino will attend the camp.

“We are excited with the players we have chosen to bring to the selection camp,” says Margot Page, head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 Team. “A number of these players will be in the running for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, and we are thrilled to begin the road towards Sochi.”

The National Women’s Under-22 Team selection camp will see the 42 players divided into two teams – Red and White – which will compete with Sweden’s national women’s team in a series of games.