Now the general manager of PWHL Montreal, we dive back into the THN Archives to 2000, the year Daniele Sauvageau was named head coach for Team Canada through the 2002 Olympics.
Now the general manager of PWHL Montreal, we dive back into the THN Archives to 2000, the year Daniele Sauvageau was named head coach for Team Canada through the 2002 Olympics.
Daniele Sauvageau is currently serving as the general manager for the PWHL's Montreal team. But she's been guiding the best women in Canada for decades.
In 2000, Sauvageau was named coach of Canada’s national women’s team through the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. At the time, Sauvageau was also a police officer in Montreal.
“I have been hoping for this,” said Sauvageau, 38 at the time.. “This is the highest position in women’s hockey in Canada.
Sauvageau had been an assistant with Canada at the 1997 and 1998 World Championships, and head coach at the 1999 World Championships. Also in 1999 Sauvageau became the first woman coach in Canadian Hockey League history when she was named an assistant with the Quebec League’s expansion Montreal Rocket.
She had to step down from her role with the Rocket to take over as Canada's full time head coach leading up to the Olympics.
“But it wasn’t easy to give up the Rocket. When you really love doing something, leaving is like leaving a loved one.”
Sauvageau was excited to take over Team Canada, and get to work with a group the would eventually win gold.
“Preparation is key,” Sauvageau said. “I’m a process person. We play for tomorrow, but live for today. We’re going to use every second of the next 18 months to be prepared. We’ll be ready.”
And they were.
THN Archives is an exclusive vault of 2,640 issues and more than 156,000 for subscribers, chronicling the complete history of The Hockey News from 1947 until today. Visit the archives at THN.com/archive and subscribe today at subscribe.thehockeynews.com