By Donna Spencer
THE CANADIAN PRESS
CALGARY — What had been a subtle changing of the guard on the Canadian women’s hockey team became more pronounced with the exclusion of Vicky Sunohara from the world championship roster.
The 37-year-old veteran forward from Toronto lost her spot on the team to 18-year-old Rebecca Johnston of Sudbury, Ont.
While retirements and players taking time off to have children have created openings for young players on the national team, it’s more rare that a veteran loses her job to a newcomer.
“It was clearly a tough decision to make,” head coach Peter Smith said Tuesday from Montreal. “It would be wrong to say Vicky’s game has deteriorated. This is about others who have stepped up their game.”
The 20-player roster and two alternates were selected by Smith and general manager Melody Davidson.
Canada opens defence of its title at the 2008 IIHF women’s world hockey championship April 4 against Russia in Harbin, China. Canada has won nine of 10 world championships.
Spots on this team were coveted not only because the tournament will be played in China for the first time, but as the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver approach, each time a player is named to the national squad it’s a chance to solidify her position on the team.
“You want to be as much of a fixture on this roster as you possibly can be and considering the depth in this country, that’s a really difficult thing to do,” defenceman Delaney Collins said at a news conference in Calgary.
Smith said when it comes to 2010, he doesn’t feel he sacrificed any talent and skill on this world championship roster.
“I think 2010 factors into the decisions we make. There’s no getting around it,” he said. “But we put together the best team for the 2008 world championship.”
Johnston was an alternate on the Canadian team that won last year’s world championship in Winnipeg. She played for the national team for the first time in November at the Four Nations Cup in Sweden.
While she didn’t collect any points in Sweden, Johnston impressed Smith.
“Rebecca showed really well at the Four Nations Cup,” the head coach said. “She plays with a lot of a confidence and fearlessness for a player her age.”
The five-foot-seven, 135-pound forward, who plays for Cornell University, had three goals and seven assists in four games for Canada’s under-22 team at the European Air Canada Cup in January.
“It’s seems like it’s been a long time since Four Nations and I was just anxious to see if I would make the team or not, so it’s kind of like a relief too,” Johnston said from Ithaca, N.Y. “It’s obviously really hard to make this team. I’m glad they’re giving me a chance to play.”
Sunohara has played for Canada in eight world championships and three Olympic Games, winning gold in seven and two of them respectively.
The former assistant captain has 54 goals and 62 assists in 161 career games and played in the first IIHF women’s world championship in 1990.
But Sunohara has battled tendinitis in her ankle since December. A mild concussion and elbow injury she suffered early at a evaluation camp in January hampered her performance in it.
“I need to be 100 per cent to make the team,” Sunohara said from Brampton, Ont. “I really believe I would have regretted it if I didn’t try this season. It’s not so much a surprise to me, but I guess right now it’s a hard time for me.
“I’m sad I’m not going to able to be with my friends and represent Canada, but on the other hand, the team is going to be great and I’m going to be cheering for them. I’m OK with it.”
Sunohara will continuing playing with her club team in Brampton and says she’ll make a decision about her future with the national team in the summer.
The national team did retain a nucleus of veterans, including captain Hayley Wickenheiser, forwards Jayna Hefford, Jennifer Botterill and Caroline Ouellette, defencemen Colleen Sostorics, Becky Kellar and Carla MacLeod, and Charline Labonte and Kim St. Pierre in goal.
“It’s hard when you see a player like Vicky, who has been around for so many years and brings so much experience and ability (not on the team),” Wickenheiser said. “I think we look at the 2010 Olympics coming up in two years and was Vicky going to be a part of that roster?
“It’s hard to say, but as an older player, obviously the coaching staff has decided to go with a younger player who may be there in 2010.
“The talent pool is deep and the young players can push for spots earlier than in years past and that’s really made it harder to keep your spot as a veteran player.”
Of the 20 players named to the team Tuesday, 17 played for Canada in last year’s world championship in Winnipeg.
Veteran forward Danielle Goyette retired last month. Toronto’s Cherie Piper was unable to play in last year’s world championship due to torn knee ligaments, but has made this year’s roster.
Veteran Cheryl Pounder’s decision to take this season off to have a baby opened up a spot on defence.
Edmonton’s Meaghan Mikkelson, the 23-year-old sister of Anaheim Ducks prospect Brendan Mikkelson, will play in a world championship for the first time.
Goaltending wasn’t exempt from the youth movement. Veteran Sami Jo Small, a former starter who had been the team’s alternate goalie since 2005, was left off the team in favour of 21-year-old Shannon Szabados of Edmonton.
Szabados will serve as alternate behind St. Pierre and Labonte. Valerie Chouinard, a 21-year-old from Matane, Que., was named alternate forward. Alternates can be substituted in for an injured player only before the tournament begins.
The Canadian team will have a pre-tournament camp March 26-29 in Victoria, where they will play two exhibition games against local midget triple-A men’s teams.
The team departs for China on March 29 and will play Sweden in an exhibition game April 2.