Thirty-six players, including 13 members of the U.S. women's team in the 2010 Olympics, will be at the national team's six-day winter camp, starting Wednesday at the National Sports Center in Blaine.
They will be divided into two teams – blue and white – for a series of intrasquad scrimmages.
"This camp is a critical step in our player evaluation process as we look ahead to the 2013 IIHF Women's World Championship," said Reagan Carey, USA Hockey's director of women's hockey. "It's an extremely competitive camp that allows our top 36 players to compete at the highest level."
The camp will include two days of physical fitness testing, three days of practice, and three games open to the public.
Half the players competed for Team USA at the 2012 IIHF Women's World Championship. Ten of those players were on both the 2010 Olympic and 2012 Women's World Championship rosters. Twenty-two are playing college hockey.
Players come from 16 different states. Minnesota and Massachusetts have the most, with six apiece. ... Eleven players are from the WCHA.
Jenny Potter of Edina will be the oldest player at camp (33 years, 11 months) and Courtney Burke (Albany, N.Y.) the youngest (18 years, 3 months) ... Head coach Katey Stone of Arlington, Mass., will guide Team USA in the 2013 IIHF Women's World Championship in Ottawa, Canada, and the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.
Among the players in camp will be three currrent Gophers defensemen, Megan Bozek, Milica McMillen and Lee Stecklein and two former ones, Anne Schleper and Gigi Marvin, now of the Boston Blades in the CWHL.
