USA Women’s National Hockey Team returns to the National Sports Center for their Winter Training Camp, December 27-January 1

Thirty-seven player roster includes 23 World Champions, 15 Olympians and ten players with Minnesota ties

BLAINE, Minn. (December 15, 2015) – USA Hockey announced the schedule and roster for the U.S. Women’s National Team training camp at the Schwan Super Rink at the National Sports Center (NSC) December 27-January 1. Thirty-seven players have been invited to the camp.

The camp will be used to select the 23-player roster for the U.S. team that will compete at the 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women’s World Championship to be held in Kamloops, British Columbia, March 28-April 4, 2016.

Highlighting the roster for the training camp are 21 members of the U.S. Women’s National Team that won the Four Nations Cup in early November and 20 players that won the gold medal at the IIHF Women’s World Championship last April.

Of the 37 players on the roster, 23 are World Champions and 15 are Olympians. The 15 members of the silver medal-winning 2014 U.S. Women’s Olympic Ice Hockey Team are Kacey Bellamy (Westfield, Mass.), Megan Bozek (Buffalo Grove, Ill.), Alex Carpenter (North Reading, Mass.), Kendall Coyne (Palos Heights, Ill.), Brianna Decker (Dousman, Wis.), Meghan Duggan (Danvers, Mass.), Hilary Knight (Sun Valley, Idaho), Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson (Grand Forks, N.D.), Monique Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D.), Gigi Marvin (Warroad, Minn.), Michelle Picard (Taunton, Mass.), Anne Schleper (St. Cloud, Minn.), Kelli Stack (Brooklyn Heights, Ohio), Lee Stecklein (Roseville, Minn.) and Jessie Vetter (Cottage Grove, Wis.).

The Winter Camp roster includes ten players with Minnesota connections:

• Shelby Amsley-Benzie (G), Warroad, Minn., currently plays for the University of North Dakota.
• Stephanie Anderson (F), North St. Paul, Minn., currently plays for Bemidji State University.
• Sydney Baldwin (D), Shorewood, Minn., currently plays for the University of Minnesota.
• Megan Bozek (D), Buffalo Grove, Ill., played for the University of Minnesota from 2009-2013.
• Zoe Hickel (F), Anchorage, Alaska, played at the University of Minnesota-Duluth from 2010-2015.
• Cara Piazza (F), Darien, Ill., currently plays for the University of Minnesota.
• Gigi Marvin (D), Warroad, Minn., played for the University of Minnesota from 2005-2009.
• Anne Schleper (D), St. Cloud, Minn., played for the University of Minnesota from 2008 to 2012.
• Lee Stecklein (D), Roseville, Minn., currently plays for the University of Minnesota.
• Allie Thunstrom (F), Maplewood, Minn., played at Boston College from 2006-2010.

A complete roster of camp invitees can be found at: 

This is the second time this year that USA Hockey has held U.S. Women’s National Team training camps at the Schwan Super Rink. The Goaltending Development Camp was held at the rink last May 21-24, and the goalie camp will return to the NSC next May 2016. USA Hockey has held its winter Women’s National Team training camp at the Schwan Super Rink for the past eight years.

Here are the times when the team is training at the Super Rink. All the on-ice practices and games are scheduled on rink 6. All the on-ice sessions are free and open to the public.

• Sunday, December 27: Players arrive.
• Monday, December 28: Team White practice, 3:10-4:30 p.m.; Team Blue practice, 4:40-6 p.m.; Goalie practice, 6:10-7 p.m.
• Tuesday, December 29: Team Blue practice, 8-8:50 a.m.; Team White practice, 9-9:50 a.m.; Game 1, Blue vs. White, 5:15-7:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, December 30: Team White practice, 8-8:50 a.m.; Team Blue practice, 9-9:50 a.m.; Game 2, Blue vs. White, 5:15-7:30 p.m.
• Thursday, December 31: Goalie practice, 1-1:45 p.m.; Team Blue practice, 2-4 p.m.; Team White practice, 4:15-6:15 p.m.
• Friday, January 1: Game 3, 8:45-10:45 p.m. Players depart.

About the National Sports Center: The National Sports Center (NSC) is a 600-acre multi-sport facility located in Blaine, Minnesota. The campus includes the Schwan Super Rink, an eight-sheet ice arena that is the world’s largest ice facility, a 8,500-seat soccer stadium, the Gradient Financial Center meeting and convention building, the Victory Links golf course, an indoor Sports Hall, 150 bed residence hall and 54 soccer fields. The facility hosts nearly 300 events annually, and welcomes 4 million visitors annually, making it the most-visited sports facility in Minnesota. The NSC generates over $40 million in annual out-of-state economic impact each year. http://www.nscsports.org/

About USA Hockey: www.usahockey.com