CALGARY, Alberta – Hockey Canada has announced that its coaching staff from the 2024-25 season will lead Canada’s Women’s Olympic Team at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, Feb. 5-19, 2026 in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
Head coach Troy Ryan (Spryfield, NS/Toronto, PWHL) will be joined by assistants Kori Cheverie (New Glasgow, NS/Montréal, PWHL), Caroline Ouellette (Montréal, QC/Concordia University, RSEQ) and Britni Smith (Port Perry, ON/Syracuse University, AHA), along with goaltending consultant Brad Kirkwood (Calgary, AB/Toronto, PWHL).
“It is always an honour and privilege to be in this leadership position as we set our expectations and goals for the Olympics,” said Ryan. “We have a tremendous coaching staff that is committed to the vision and process, and I am excited for the journey ahead. We know our athletes are motivated to compete and we are eager to begin the work towards achieving something extraordinary in seven months time.”
The coaching staff was selected by National Women’s Team general manager Gina Kingsbury (Rouyn-Noranda, QC/Toronto, PWHL), in consultation with Katherine Henderson (Thunder Bay, ON), Hockey Canada’s president and chief executive officer, and Scott Salmond (Creston, BC),senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations.
“We have made a conscious effort to create an environment for our athletes where consistency among our coaches creates trust and accountability in each other,” said Kingsbury. “Our staff are experienced, detail-oriented and passionate as they give our team the confidence to grow, compete and meet the challenges of both short-term and long-term competition. We continue to build something special with our group and we are excited to see it all come together as we compete for a gold medal in Milan.”
Ryan has served as head coach of the Toronto Sceptres of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) for the past two seasons, earning PWHL Coach of the Year honours in 2023-24. He is entering his sixth season as head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Team, guiding the team to a gold medal at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. Ryan also earned a silver medal as an assistant coach at the 2018 Olympics. Ryan has added three gold medals at the IIHF Women’s World Championship (2021, 2022, 2024) in addition to silver medals in 2023 and 2025. As an assistant coach, he earned a silver medal at the 2017 Women’s Worlds and bronze in 2019, and won a silver medal as head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team at the 2017 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship.
Cheverie has served as head coach of the PWHL’s Montréal Victoire for the last two seasons, earning PWHL Coach of the Year honours this season after guiding the Victoire to first place in the regular-season standings. She has won silver medals as an assistant coach with Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2023 and 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championships, and also added gold medals as an assistant coach at Women’s Worlds in 2021, 2022 and 2024, in addition to the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. Cheverie became the first woman to serve on the coaching staff with one of Canada’s national men’s teams at the 2022 IIHF U18 World Championship. Nationally, she won a silver medal as head coach of Team Nova Scotia at the 2023 Canada Winter Games, the province’s first-ever medal in women’s hockey. She was also the first woman hired as a full-time assistant coach in U SPORTS, spending five seasons (2016-21) with the Ryerson University men’s hockey team.
Ouellette has been the associate head coach at Concordia University since 2021, and recently completed her first season as an assistant coach with the PWHL’s Montréal Victoire. As an assistant coach with Canada’s National Women’s Team, she won gold medals at the IIHF Women’s World Championship in 2022 and 2024, in addition to silver medals in 2023 and 2025, and bronze in 2019. A Team Canada legend during a 17-year playing career, Ouellette won four Olympic gold medals and six world championships and recorded 242 points (87-155—242) in 220 games, the third-most in National Women’s Team history. She was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2023.
Smith recently completed her third season as head coach at Syracuse University. Prior to joining the Orange, she was an assistant coach at Clarkson University (2014-22), winning NCAA national championships in 2017 and 2018. Smith won a silver medal as an assistant coach with Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship and earned silver medals as an assistant with Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team at the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship in 2016 and 2020. Smith also served as an assistant coach with Canada’s National Women’s Development Team in 2018-19.
Kirkwood has held the role of goaltending assistant with the PWHL’s Toronto Sceptres for the past two seasons. He has served as goaltending consultant for Canada’s National Women’s Team since 2015, winning a gold medal at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games alongside a silver medal in 2018. Kirkwood has also won three gold medals at the IIHF Women’s World Championship (2021, 2022, 2024), in addition to four silver medals (2016, 2017, 2023, 2025), and won a gold medal with Canada’s National Women’s Development Team at the 2015 Nations Cup.
Hockey Canada also announced the support staff that will work with Canada’s National Women’s Team for the 2025-26 season:
- Senior manager of player development and scouting Cherie Piper (Scarborough, ON)
- Video coach Andrew Boucher (Timmins, ON)
- Strength and conditioning coach Vicki Bendus (Wasaga Beach, ON/Montréal, PWHL)
- Equipment managers Alana Goulden (Aurora, ON/Toronto, PWHL) and Blair Smook (Airdrie, AB)
- Team physician Laura Bennion (Vancouver, BC)
- Therapists Christine Atkins (Fort Macleod, AB) and Danielle McNally (Wolfville, NS)
- Massage therapist Meagan Cowell (London, ON)
- Performance Coach Judy Riege (Calgary, AB)
- Senior hockey operations manager Dylan Rockwell (Calgary, AB)
- Hockey operations manager Savannah Newton (Halifax, NS)
- Hockey operations coordinator Cassidy Wait (North Vancouver, BC)
- Media relations manager Esther Madziya (Lethbridge, AB)
Canada will open the Olympics against Finland on Feb. 5 at 3:10 p.m. ET/12:10 p.m. PT at Milano Rho Arena. It will also face Switzerland on Feb. 7 at 3:10 pm. ET/12:10 p.m. PT and Czechia on Feb. 9 at 3:10 p.m. ET/12:10 p.m. PT before closing out preliminary-round action against the United States on Feb. 10 at 2:10 p.m. ET/11:10 a.m. PT. The semifinals are set for Feb. 16 before the gold medal game on Feb. 19 at 1:10 p.m. ET/10:10 a.m. PT.
For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Women’s Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow along via social media on Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok.
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Media Contact:
Esther Madziya
Manager, Communications
Hockey Canada
403-519-5754
emadziya@hockeycanada.ca