Kori Cheverie is the clear frontrunner to serve as the next head coach for Canada's national, but it's not cut and dry, as the final decision will be left to the next general manager Hockey Canada hires.
Kori Cheverie is the clear frontrunner to become Hockey Canada's next head coach for the women's national team.
It's also clear that Cheverie, who this month guided the Montreal Victoire to a PWHL championship, believes in herself for the role as well.
Cheverie went through the interview process with Czechia who was in search of a replacement for Carla MacLeod as their own women's national team head coach. It's believe Cheverie was offered the job, which ultimately went to Vancouver Goldeneyes head coach Brian Idalski, but turned it down. Why? The clear answer is her belief that Hockey Canada's top job is waiting.
Cheverie, 38, joined Team Canada as an assistant coach at the 2021 World Championships, winning both World gold medals, and a 2022 Olympic gold medal with Canada in the role.
In 2023, she was named the inaugural head coach for the Montreal Victoire, taking the team to the playoffs in consecutive seasons, only to be ousted in the opening round both times, and then finally, in 2026, guiding Montreal to their first Walter Cup.
In the process, Cheverie became the first woman in league history to coach a team to a Walter Cup title.
She's the clear frontunner for the position having national team coaching experience as an assistant, and head coaching experience at the professional level
But it's not that simple.
Unless Cheverie goes a different direction and becomes the general manager, which is the role Hockey Canada will hire first, the situation may be outside her control. Once Hockey Canada's selection committee identifies and hires a candidate for general manager, that new GM will then get to choose their head coach and staff.
And Cheverie is not alone in her candidacy.
On the American side, USA Hockey has restricted the ability of their own national team staff from serving dual roles. It's why John Wroblewski hasn't joined the PWHL, nor Katie Million. USA Hockey may change that rule, but it explains their absence. The dual role and balancing the perceived conflicts between a PWHL role and national team job can be difficult, and it's one Gina Kingsbury and Troy Ryan, Canada's now former GM and head coach, walked with mixed reviews.
It could lead Hockey Canada to cut ties with PWHL altogether when it comes to a GM and head coach. One candidate who stands out as an obvious replacement for either role is Vicky Sunohara. Sunohara has served as Canada's head coach at the U-18 national team level, and has decades of experience as the head coach for the University of Toronto.
Hockey Canada's new girls and women's hockey development plan states their goal of bolstering U SPORTS hockey, so bringing in a U SPORTS coach, one who is a legend of the national team herself, and who has a plethora of experience from being the U SPORTS Coach of the Year, coaching the U-18 team to gold, and working as a coaching consultant in the PWHL, could be the ideal fit. In terms of identifying incoming talent, Sunohara may be the ultimate candidate not for the head coaching role, but for being the new GM. Her involvement with Canada's U-18 team gives her intimate knowledge on the player pool that will be leaned on to guide Canada into a new era.
If Sunohara was hired as GM, Cheverie would remain the frontrunner.
There are other candidates who remain available for the coaching role. Now former Syracuse head coach and Team Canada assistant is likely to be considered for a coaching role, and others like Boston Fleet head coach Kris Sparre, who could win the PWHL Coach of the Year award this season and hails from Mississauga, could also be in the running.
Sparre’s unexpected move to Hamilton as head coach only amplifies his position as a potential candidate.
The first step in the process will be Hockey Canada hiring a GM, a role in itself which could go to Cheverie, or even her Montreal Victoire general manager Daniele Sauvageau. Once that role is decided, the path for Canada selecting their new head coach will be paved, and it could lead directly to Kori Cheverie.