HAYLEY WICKENHEISER says a knee injury that kept her out of the Canadian university women's hockey championship final will not prevent her from playing in the upcoming women's world championship.

Canada's all-time leading scorer was among the 23 players named Monday to the roster for the 2013 women's world championship April 2-9 in Ottawa.

Canada is the defending champion after beating the host U.S. in overtime in last year's final in Burlington, Vt.

Wickenheiser "tweaked" her knee in the CIS semifinal March 9 while playing for the University of Calgary Dinos.

She was unable to play the following day in a 3-2 loss to the University of Montreal in the championship game.

"If it was the Olympic gold-medal final, I think I would have played, but I just couldn't take a risk with world championships coming up," the Canadian team captain said Monday.

"I just didn't feel 100 per cent safe at that moment. I tried, but I couldn't risk it."

The forward from Shaunavon, Sask., said she skated Monday and will join her Canadian teammates for pre-tournament preparation March 26 in Petawawa, Ont.

"It was a minor injury I needed a little bit of time with, but I'll be good to go for camp," Wickenheiser said.

Dan Church coached Canada to victory in Burlington last year. He'll be behind Canada's bench again both in Ottawa and at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

The 28 players invited to try out for the Olympic team will be named after the world championship.

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 19, 2013 D5