The two hockey players are members of Canada’s under-22 and under-18 teams, who are in action this week.
Styles, 17, is an Orangeville resident, who played last season for the Provincial Women’s Hockey League’s Mississauga Chiefs.
The 5-foot-3 forward is competing with the rest of the Canadian team in Lake Placid, New York against the United States under-18 team in a three-game series beginning tonight.
The second and third games will be played on Friday and Saturday.
Styles was selected for the team following an eight-day selection camp in Calgary from July 20-27 by former Mississauga Chiefs’ head coach Stephanie White.
The series against the United States is the first of two competitions for the under-18 team during the 2008-09 season. The team will also travel to Füssen, Germany for the 2009 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship from Jan. 5-10, 2009. Canada claimed the silver medal at the inaugural women’s U18 world championship in Calgary last January.
Meanwhile, Birchard will also see action against the United States beginning this evening in Pierrefonds, Quebec.
The second and third games of the series will be played Friday and Saturday.
Birchard is a 5-foot-9 forward from Mississauga who will be attending the University of New Hampshire in the fall.
dwiner@mississauga.net
