For the first time in her hockey career, Stryker Zablocki will have a chance to compete to wear the maple leaf as the as the 16-year-old forward was invited to Hockey Canada’s Women’s U18 Summer Selection Camp in St. Catherine’s, Ontario next month.
“It is definitely one of my biggest accomplishments, probably in my entire life. To see it happen is definitely something I am proud of. I put in a lot of hard work into it and to see that paying off is pretty awesome.”
Zablocki will be joined by fellow Regina teammate in rearguard Brooklyn Nimegeers. Zablocki and Nimegeers are the only two invitees from Saskatchewan.
Zablocki says she is excited to attend the camp alongside a teammate and to interact with other players she met while playing at the Esso Cup in Prince Albert earlier this year.
“One of my teammates, Brooklyn Nimegeers, she also got the invitation, that’ll be nice to have her there and have that kind of local support because we’re the only girls from Sask. I’ll be playing against a few, I think two, maybe three girls, that I played against at the Esso Cup. That’ll be pretty cool.”
Players that were invited to the camp that played In the Esso Cup include Madison Burr (Stoney Creek Sabres), Nimegeers (Regina), Clara Juca (Fraser Valley) and Rebecca Noble (Fraser Valley).
Of the 26 forwards invited to the camp, only nine, including Zablocki were born in 2007. Zablocki says she is humbled to be considered one of the top players in Canada in her age group.
“I’m honored. I’m blown away. I’ve worked for a long time and to see that paying off is awesome. I played against lots of those girls, so it’ll be fun to share in that and have that competition.”
At the conclusion of the camp, a team will be selected to play in a three-game series against the United States in Lake Placid, New York from Aug. 14-20.
Zablocki says she is hoping to be on the roster to take on the Americans.
“You actually have to make the team first. But that’s probably my biggest goal. Obviously, it’s my biggest goal going into that hopefully I can make that and then we’ll be playing against the U.S. and Finland and there’s a showcase team, so that’ll be super competitive.”
Canada is searching for their third consecutive gold medal in the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship.
“We are thrilled with this group of 46 talented athletes who will participate in selection camp,” Gina Kingsbury, Vice-President of Hockey Operations said in a press release. “We are confident this group will come ready to compete for a spot to wear the Maple Leaf in international competition as we work towards winning a third-consecutive gold medal at the world championship.”
