Dunedin's Megan Gilchrist will return to the international ice at a women's tournament in Auckland next week.
Gilchrist (27) is a member of the Ice Ferns for the division 2, group A championships at the Botany Ice Rink.
The other teams are Italy, Hungary, Slovenia, Australia and Poland.
Gilchrist started playing ice hockey in Christchurch at the age of 9 and has been playing the sport for 18 years.
She first played for the Ice Ferns in 2001 and her first world championship event was in Romania in 2007.
Gilchrist, a teaching fellow at the University of Otago School of Physical Education, has played in 10 world championship games for New Zealand. The last test was in 2008.
A stress fracture of her right foot put Gilchrist out of action for two years and she returned to the sport for the Southern regional team last year.
''This is my first year back in the national team after injury,'' Gilchrist said.
''It feels amazing. It's great to be back among a wonderful group of girls. I'm having a blast.''
Gilchrist will be one of the key forwards in the New Zealand team.
''I like the camaraderie between the teams,'' she said.
''I enjoy the speed of the game and the physical play.''
New Zealand won the division 4 world championships in Iceland in 2010 and is targeting another win this year.
The structure of the world championships has changed since that time, and the team finished fourth in division 2, group A in Slovenia last year.
''We are out there to win,'' Gilchrist said.
''I don't think you ever go out there to get second. It would also be huge to improve on last year's fourth place.''
Gilchrist is joined in the side by Dunedin Penguins players Zanzee Pielak-Jones (23) and Stephanie Patchett (18).
New Zealand first competed at a women's world championship in Dunedin in 2005. This is only the second time it has been held in New Zealand.
The favourites for the tournament, Italy and Hungary, will meet in the last game of the tournament on Sunday night.
New Zealand has hopes of breaking into the top three.
''Women's ice hockey is growing in New Zealand and this is the strongest team we've ever had,'' equipment manager Sara Leadbetter said.
The Ice Ferns have had three warm-up games. They beat the Canterbury under-16 team 8-1 and had a loss (1-3) and win (5-3) against the Auckland All-Stars.
New Zealand is ranked 25th in the world and Australia 24th.
The goal is to qualify for the Winter Olympic Games in 2018. The top six teams in the world gain automatic entry and two extra teams can qualify.
Women's ice hockey World championships
Status: Division 2, group A.
Venue: Botany Ice Rink, Auckland.
Dates: Monday, April 8 to Sunday, April 14.
Dunedin players in New Zealand team: Megan Gilchrist, Stephanie Patchett, Zanzee Pielak-Jones.
