The two Mississauga hockey players are in action this week as members of Canada’s national teams.
Styles, 17, is an Orangeville resident who played last season for the Provincial Women’s Hockey League’s Mississauga Chiefs. The five-foot-three forward is in Lake Placid, New York with Canada's national under-18 women's hockey team for a three-game series against the United States that began last night.
The second and third games will be played tomorrow and Saturday.
Styles was selected for the team following an eight-day selection camp from July 20-27 in Calgary 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 Germany for the 2009 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship that run from Jan. 5-10. Canada claimed the silver medal at the inaugural women’s U18 world championship in Calgary last January.
Meanwhile, Birchard is with Canada's under-22 team and was in action last night against their American counterparts in Pierrefonds, Quebec.
The second and third games of that series will be played tomorrow and Saturday.
Birchard is a five-foot-nine forward from Mississauga who will be attending the University of New Hampshire in the fall.
dwiner@mississauga.net
