USA Hockey releases roster and schedule for 2018 National Team evaluation camp

It wouldn’t be USA Hockey without a little bit of controversy.

Today USA Hockey released its 37-woman roster and schedule for the 2018 National Team Evaluation Camp. The camp itself is taking place at the University of New England in Biddeford, Me. It runs Sept. 13-17 and includes 18 women from Team USA’s gold medal roster from the PyeongChang Olympics.

The roster

Cayla Barnes, Kacey Bellamy, Megan Bozek, Hannah Brandt, Sydney Brodt, Natalie Buchbinder, Kaitlin Burt, Dani Cameranesi, Jesse Compher, Kendall Coyne Schofield,   Brianna Decker, Clair DeGeorge, Jincy Dunne, Kali Flanagan, Mikaela Gardner, Taylor Heise, Nicole Hensley, Megan Keller, Amanda Kessel, Hilary Knight, Caitrin Lonergan, Patti Marshall, Gigi Marvin, Sidney Morin, Maureen Murphy, Annie Pankowski, Kelly Pannek, Amanda Pelkey, Michelle Picard, Emma Polusny, Alex Rigsby, Maddie Rolfes, Maddie Rooney, Abby Roque, Melissa Samoskevich, Sophia Shaver, Haley Skarupa

So, who’s missing?

Where’s Team USA captain Meghan Duggan? And where are star defenders Lee Stecklein and Emily Pfalzer — both of whom are playing in the NWHL this year? Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando are taking the year off from hockey with their pregnancies, so their omission from the camp’s roster was hardly a surprise.

However, the omission of Alex Carpenter is another matter, especially with Megan Bozek — who was also a late cut from the U.S. team’s PyeongChang roster — participating in the camp. Kelli Stack, another controversial cut from the PyeongChang roster, is also not attending the camp.

Another interesting note is that Picard, who currently plays in the NWHL with the Metropolitan Riveters, was invited to the camp. Picard won a silver medal with USA at the Sochi Games in 2014. She was the captain of Team NWHL when they played two games against Team USA before the PyeongChang Olympics.

Looking ahead

Team USA’s next major tournament is the 2018 Four Nations Cup. The tournament runs Nov. 6-10 and is being held in Saskatoon, Sask. Team USA has won the Four Nations Cup the past three years.

Several months after Four Nations wraps up, Team USA will take its best roster to the 2019 Women’s World Championship in Espoo, Finland. USA will be seeking its fifth straight gold at the Worlds when the tournament gets underway on April 4.