COLORADO SPRINGS, USA – Twenty-seven players have been selected to the U.S. Women's National Team preliminary roster in preparation for the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship, which takes place April 7-14 in Burlington, Vermont.

The athletes will take part in a training camp at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid, N.Y., from March 25 - April 3, with the final 21-player roster set to be announced on April 1. The U.S. will travel to Ottawa, Ont., for an exhibition contest against Canada on March 31, before playing Finland in a pre-tournament game on April 3 at 7 p.m. EST at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y.

The U.S. squad will arrive in Burlington on April 4, where Team USA will look to defend its back-to-back-to-back world titles from 2008, 2009 and 2011 (a world championship was not held in 2010 due to the Olympic Winter Games).

The preliminary roster includes 15 forwards, nine defensemen and three goaltenders. The final 21-player roster will include three goaltenders.

Twenty-one members of the U.S. Women's National Team that captured first place in the 2011 Four Nations Cup in November are vying for roster spots. There are a total of 17 Olympians on the preliminary list and 19 players who helped Team USA to the world title in 2011.

Click here to see the roster.

Laura Halldorson and Bobby Jay have been named assistant coaches, Robb Stauber goaltending coach and Michael Boyle strength & conditioning coach for the U.S. Women's National Team that will compete in the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship from April 7-14, in Burlington, Vermont, it was announced by USA Hockey. Boyle, Halldorson, Jay and Stauber join head coach Katey Stone on the coaching staff of Team USA.

One of the most successful coaches in women's hockey history, Halldorson led the University of Minnesota women's ice hockey program to three NCAA Division I national championships (2000, 2004, 2005) and became the only women's ice hockey head coach to lead a program to five consecutive NCAA Frozen Four appearances (2002-06). In her 11 years at the helm of Minnesota, she amassed a 278-67-22 overall record for a .787 winning percentage. She also served seven years as head coach of the Colby College women's ice hockey team and finished her 18-year head coaching career with a 337-142-31 overall record. Halldorson, who was a member of the 1987 U.S. Women's National Team, served as a coach at USA Hockey's Women's National Team Program winter camp this past December in Blaine, Minn.

Jay's coaching experience includes time behind the bench in the International Hockey League (IHL), American Hockey League (AHL) and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). He served two stints as an assistant coach of Harvard University's men's ice hockey team, a position he held from 2009-11 and 2004-06. He was also an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning's IHL affiliate, the Detroit Vipers, and continued his coaching career with the Los Angeles Kings' AHL affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs. He joined the U.S. Women's National Team Program in August of 2011 and has served as an assistant coach at the 2011 Four Nations Cup in Nyköping, Sweden; in addition, he served as a coach for USA Hockey's Women's National Team Program winter camp this past December in Blaine, Minn. and at the U.S. Women's National Team Festival in August in Blaine, Minn.

Stauber's extensive background in coaching and training goaltenders, underscored by his numerous playing accomplishments, have become an asset to the U.S. Women's National Team Program since he became involved in December of 2010. He served as a volunteer goalie coach for the University of Minnesota's men's ice hockey team from 1999-2008, during which time the Gophers won back-to-back NCAA titles (2002-03) and two WCHA titles. He has also served as goalie coach for the University of Minnesota Duluth's women's ice hockey team (1999-2008). Following a decorated collegiate career with the University of Minnesota as the first goaltender to be awarded the Hobey Baker Award, Stauber went on to play 10 years of professional hockey.

One of the foremost experts in the fields of strength and conditioning, performance enhancement and fitness, Boyle currently is a strength and conditioning coach at Boston University, a position he has held for more than 20 years. Boyle served in the same role for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League from 1991-99. He is also a strength and conditioning consultant for the Boston Red Sox. Boyle served as the strength and conditioning coach for the 1998 U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team that won the gold medal in Nagano, Japan.

In preparation for the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship, USA Hockey will stage a training camp in Lake Placid, N.Y., March 25 - April 3. The camp will include daily practices, testing and off-ice training. The U.S. will play an exhibition game on March 31 in Ottawa against Canada and April 3 in Lake Placid against Finland.