Team Canada has a refreshed coaching and management staff heading into the 2026 World Championships. It will come with a fresh approach and fresh expectations to get Canada's women's national team back to gold sooner than later.
Canada's national women's team has a refreshed staff after the hiring of Kori Cheverie as the program's new head coach. Alongside Cheverie, who was an assistant coach for Canada at the 2026 Olympics, are assistants Caroline Ouellette and Kris Sparre.
Ouellette, a Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, was also an assistant coach with Canada last year, bringing a level of stability and consistency to the program. But in new roles, with new expectations, and new supports around them, expectations will also be different, not only for the staff, but for the on-ice success.
Diverse PWHL Representation Should Ease Conflict
One of the major concerns under Gina Kingsbury and Troy Ryan was the ever-present blurred lines between PWHL and Hockey Canada decisions. With the duo holding identical roles for Team Canada and the Toronto Sceptres, players at both the PWHL and Canadian ranks had raised concerns, including complaints filed to Hockey Canada on the ongoing perceived conflict.
This year however, while there will be a significant PWHL presence with Hockey Canada's staff, it is also spread beyond a singular program. The Montreal Victoire will have general manager Daniele Sauvageau holding the dual role only until the completion of the 2026-27 season when she will step away from the Walter Cup champion Montreal Victoire to focus exclusively on Hockey Canada. She'll be joined by assistant GMs Mike Hirshfeld and Manon Rheaume who are the general managers for the Ottawa Charge and PWHL Detroit respectively.
On the bench, Cheverie and Ouellette are both members of the Montreal Victoire, while Sparre coached the Boston Fleet last season, and this year will coach PWHL Hamilton. Also on board is long-time men's hockey coach Bruce Cassidy as an advisor.
The group comes from diverse backgrounds, without ties to a singular PWHL team. It will add a layer of oversight and accountability in not only Hockey Canada's decision making, but also in how those decisions are used to influence PWHL signings and moves.
Prove It Messaging For Canada
No one has handed a coach or staff member, beyond Sauvageau herself, a golden ticket to the 2030 Olympics. In fact, Sauvageau's hires were given only the briefest window, bringing the group on "through the 2026 IIHF Women’s World Championship." Hirshfeld and Rheaume are with Hockey Canada "for the 2026-27 season."
For Sauvageau, it provides valuable outside input, more eyes on talent in the PWHL and beyond, and gives her the opportunity she wants to evaluate not only this current group of staff, but what the best model for staffing Canada's national program moving forward will be. On the men's side, coaching appointments are typically short term with varying coaches hired for World Championship and Olympic events with a much shorter runway. For Hockey Canada, Kingsbury and Ryan had multiple years with Canada's national program under their unquestioned guidance, and it became clear that alongside their roles in the PWHL, there were issues.
Sauvageau may hire a staff long term, but those decisions will not be formalized until after she's finished in the PWHL, giving her the time she needs to evaluate what will work best for Team Canada under the new international calendar, and in the PWHL era.
A New Era On The Ice Could Be Coming
Canada's national team camp roster is expected imminently as the nation has their training camp scheduled for October 8-14 in Quebec City. That includes intra-squad games on October 12 and 14 at Centre Videotron before travelling to Windsor, Ontario for an October 28 game against USA, and Plymouth, Michigan two days later to again face the United States on October 30 before embarking on their trip to Denmark for the opening of the 2026 World Championships November 6.
Canada is expected to bring some fresh faces to camp, as well as bring back some players who have been left off recent national team rosters.
Among the leading candidates to earn an invite are PWHL players like Nicole Gosling, Rebecca Leslie, Jessie Eldridge, Raygan Kirk, and Kendall Cooper, who have all outplayed many on Canada's roster.
Canada will also look to balance a much needed youth movement by inviting players like Caitlin Kraemer, Eve Gascon, Jocelyn Amos, Chloe Primerano, Stryker Zablocki, Sara Manness, and others.
Many will be watching the invites closely as although Hockey Canada has overhauled their management at the top, the key staff member who was not replaced was senior manager of scouting and player development Cherie Piper, who has been responsible for identifying Canada's talent pool the past several seasons. If Canada can't find a winning mix, Piper could be the next face looked at by Sauvageau and Hockey Canada's upper brass.
It's a new era on the bench, and soon, with the announcement of Canada's camp roster, speculation can begin as to how much change Canadian fans will see this November, versus how much they'll need to wait for until 2027 when Sauvageau's long term plan can truly take hold.
