Abby Newhook, Leah Wicks chasing dreams at Team Canada development camps

Two young Newfoundlanders are taking big strides this summer towards their ultimate goal — to one day win a world championship with Team Canada.

Abby Newhook, 20, and Leah Wicks, 15, have both been invited to development camps this summer with the national women's hockey program.

Newhook will be attending a camp in St. Catharines, Ont., before heading to Lake Placid, N.Y., with 22 other Canadian women for a three-game series against the United States next month.

Wicks will be attending the women's under-18 development camp, where she'll be scouted for future national junior tournaments. Her camp will feature 46 skaters vying to be one of 23 selected to also play in a three-game exhibition against the U.S. in Lake Placid.

"This is something I've wanted to do since I first started hockey, and it's just exciting to have the opportunity to do it at such a young age," Wicks told CBC News.

"I've seen some of the players that will be there, and I think it will be a very competitive camp and I think it's going to be very exciting to meet those players and get to try out with them."

Wicks is coming off her first season away from home. She suited up for the legendary Shattuck-St. Mary's school in Minnesota, where she put up an impressive 35 points in 59 games on defence. It's the same school where NHL superstars Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon played their 15-year-old seasons.

"It was an adjustment at first being away from home and being in a different country," she said. "But the hockey is just so competitive, and I made a lot of great friends in my first year and I'm excited to go back in the fall."

Newhook, meanwhile, dominated for Boston College in her sophomore season. She scored 19 goals and added 14 assist for 33 points in 36 games.

Newhook will return to Boston in the fall, with her sights set on winning an NCAA championship.

This won't be her first national camp, but it brings her one step closer to one day playing for Canada's senior women's team — something she said she strives for every day.

"I think at the end of the day, the best of the best are playing on the national team and ultimately it's more competitive [than college hockey]," she said. "To win a world championship with the Canadian national team would just probably top Boston College, but just a little."

The Lake Placid series will take place Aug. 14-20, with camps taking place in the days before. 

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