Three area hockey players set to play in event that almost didn’t happen

The Under-18 women’s World Hockey Championship is finally ready to go.

It was scheduled to be played in Sweden in January but that didn’t happen because of COVID-19 concerns.

Now, as Team Canada gets set to face Finland in their first game on June 6, three area players are ready to play in a tournament they weren’t sure was going to happen.

Emma Pais, Madison Chantler and Jocelyn Amos had made Team Canada back in November 2021.

But the surge of excitement the three of them felt disappeared in late December as IIHF president Luc Tardif announced that, for the second year in a row, COVID-19 had forced the cancellation of the Under-18 Women’s World Hockey Championship.

Chantler and Pais, who are from London, Ont., and Amos, who is from Ailsa Craig, Ont., were on a national team roster but had nowhere to pull on their Team Canada sweaters and represent their country.

Then, during the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, China, an announcement was made that the tournament was going to be revived and played in June. And here we are.

Both Canada and the United States made it known that they would act as hosts and, in the end, Madison, Wisc., was selected.

“It’s just great news that this tournament is happening now and that all of the players on the team get to represent their country,” said Ted Brown, who coached all three players this year with the London Devilettes U-22 program.”

But it wasn’t as simple as taking the original roster and sending out congratulatory “Welcome back,” texts to let the players know things were back on.

“All of the players who were on the team were informed that they were going to have a second training camp,” Brown said. “They were on the team and then they had to make the team a second time.”

Brown had complete faith in three players who have starred for the Devilettes in the Ontario Under-22 Elite League.

“It’s pretty incredible,” Brown said. “All three of those players deserve to be there.”

And all three continue to add to the dynamite contingent of local talent on women’s national teams.

“It’s a good stepping stone for sure,” Brown said. “We already have Ella Shelton from the Devilettes on the national team, Julia Gosling was at the World Championships and is just a step away. I think we have a number of players on the Devilettes who have a chance to present themselves to actually end up being on our national team.”

Hockey will continue to unfold after the tournament for Amos, Chantler and Pais.

Chantler is going to Quinnipiac University and Pais is off to Colgate on full scholarships.

Amos will join them in the NCAA when she attends Ohio State in 2023.

Following their game against Finland, Team Canada will face Sweden on June 8 and then the United States on June 10 before the knockout round begins.