X-Women set to compete for Team Canada at Winter Universiade

Alex Normore and Daley Oddy to skate with national squad

ANTIGONISH, NS ­– A pair of X-Women hockey athletes are set to compete for team Canada as preliminary action begins tomorrow at the Winter University Games in Granada, Spain. Forwards Alexa Normore and Daley Oddy will be playing for Canada when they hit the ice at the international event.

Competing in her second consecutive FISU Winter Universiade, Alex Normore sets her expectations high, commenting, "I expect to come home with a gold medal." 

"I also expect to meet lots of new friends. The experience last time was absolutely incredible and I expect nothing less for this year," says the veteran fifth year StFX forward from Bedford, N.S. "The team, coaches and administration have been top notch so far. As it is my fifth year, it will be amazing to finish on a high note and come home with the gold once again."

Daley Oddy, a second year X-Women forward from Cranbrooke, B.C. notes, "I am very excited to start playing with the team. From our first practice it is easy to tell that we have a very skilled and fast team.

I know that I am very lucky to have an opportunity to play for Canada in Spain, and I expect to make lots of memories with all the new people I have met."

The 27^th biennial Winter Universiade runs February 4-14, with the Canadian women's hockey squad the favorites, after winning their third straight gold medal in Trentino, Italy in 2013. The Canadians enter with a perfect 21-0 overall record since the women's hockey competition made its FISU debut in Harbin, China in 2009. There, Canada defeated the host Chinese 3-1 to win the inaugural gold medal before following that triumph with a 4-1 win against Finland in 2011 (Erzurum, Turkey) and a 5-0 defeat of Russia in Trentino.

Canada will compete in Pool B with Russia and Kazakhstan, while Pool A consists of host Spain, the United States, China, and Japan. The Canadians are led by Head Coach Jon Rempel (University of Manitoba), along with assistants Bruce Donaldson (UPEI) and Jim Hunter (University of Windsor).

Normore, serving as an alternate captain with the team, and Oddy are part of the Canadian contingent of CIS standouts selected from each of the four conferences across the country. The 20-player roster features seven athletes from OUA, five from Canada West, and four each from AUS and RSEQ. Saint Mary's forward Breanna Lanceleve and UPEI defense Keirsten Visser are the other two AUS athletes on the team.

All athletes are taking a break from their CIS teams to compete in Spain. AUS regular season play finishes this coming weekend with Normore and Oddy expected back in the X-Women line-up for upcoming playoffs. Normore is the reigning three-time AUS most valuable player and is currently third overall in the country in scoring with 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists). Oddy has 23 points to her credit this season (11 goals, 12 assists), good enough for fourth in the AUS conference.

Canada plays their first preliminary game tomorrow, February 4th against Kazakhstan at 8:30 pm local time. They will face the Russian Federation on Sunday, Sunday, February 8^th. The semifinals are scheduled for Wednesday, February 11^th with the gold medal game taking place Thursday, February 12th at 8:30 pm local time. The gold medal game is slated to be webcast live on www.livefisu.tv. The complete schedule is available on the Games official website at http://www.granada2015.org/en/sports/schedule-a-results.

The Winter Universiade is an 11-day multi-sport event hosted by the International University Sports Federation (FISU) that takes place every two years in various cities over the world. Participation is open to any competitor between the ages of 17 and 28 in the year of the Games, who is a full-time post-secondary student or has graduated from a post-secondary institution within the previous year of the event.

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