OAKVILLE, Ont. – Today, Tim Hortons announced its new partnership with Hockey Canada. The four-year partnership is a natural next step in Tim’s long-standing relationship with hockey in Canada. 

Alongside the partnership, Tim’s also announced the title sponsorship of Hockey Canada’s Initiation Program. The Tim Hortons Timbits Hockey Canada Initiation Program is the official entry level for hockey in Canada and Tim’s support is an ongoing demonstration of the company’s commitment to bringing communities together through a shared passion for Canada’s favourite sport. Tim’s will work with Hockey Canada to support its delivery of the Timbits Initiation Program developing young hockey players in a positive and fun environment in all corners of the country. With the new partnership, Tim Hortons will be supporting over 100,000 children in hockey across Canada.  

“This partnership speaks to our intrinsic connection with Canada’s game and the foundation of Tim Hortons, beginning with our founder who was an amazing talent in the restaurant and on the ice,”says Jorge Zaidan, head of marketing, Tim Hortons Canada. “The relationship with Hockey Canada demonstrates our continued love, passion and commitment to supporting hockey development for the youth at every level, in communities across Canada.”

The Timbits Initiation Program is a structured, learn-to-play hockey program designed to introduce young players to the game’s basic skills in an atmosphere of fun and fair play. It is the basis from which Canadians get their start in hockey by having fun, learning skills, and developing confidence.

“Much like Hockey Canada, Tim Hortons has built its brand around ‘community’ and it is community that is at the very heart of our game,” said Mike Ross, chief business development officer for Hockey Canada. “The Tim Hortons Timbits Hockey Canada Initiation Program is traditionally a child’s first experience in hockey, and we believe in ensuring that is a positive experience that fills young players with confidence and develops their skills so that they can enjoy hockey – regardless of what level they play at – as a life-long sport.”  

Developed more than 35 years ago, the Timbits Initiation Program is designed for players five and six years old, and it aims to create participants and instructors who will continue in the game by focusing on progressive skill-development and fun.

“A positive first experience on the ice is so important to growing a love for the sport. I know that’s something I’ve always believed in, having had my start as a Timbits hockey player,” says Sidney Crosby, a Timbits alumnus who has played for Team Canada seven times to-date. “The Tim Hortons Timbits Initiation Program makes sure kids learn basic skills while having a good time and can go on to playing hockey for years to come.”

The new partnership with Tim Hortons will also see the organization supporting Canada’s national teams, and as an international partner, Tim Hortons will work with Hockey Canada to enhance the fan and volunteer experience through promotions and product at national championships as well as at key international events such as the IIHF World Junior Championship and IIHF Women’s World Championship.

On the ice, Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team completed a three-game sweep of the United States in its summer series for the first time since 2007, but behind the bench, the coaching staff was making a little history.

Head coach Courtney Birchard-Kessel and assistants Stefanie McKeough and Tara Watchorn became the first all-women coaching staff in the history of Canada’s women’s U18 program. The result against the Americans was terrific, but the impact the series will have on growing women’s hockey goes beyond the ice.

“We’re in such a good time for women in coaching positions,” says Watchorn. “With pioneers like Hayley Wickenheiser and Caroline Ouellette, it’s great to see that women are starting to get in on the coaching side now and there’s a path to making coaching a career, which was really tough before. It’s really cool to see that transition where a wave of players who have already had a hockey career now able to move into coaching.”

To add to the accomplishment, all three members of the coaching staff are alumnae of National Women’s Program, having shared the ice together at camps and events over the last decade and a half, including a golden experience with Canada’s National Women’s Development Team at the 2011 MLP Cup, the only time the three wore the Maple Leaf together.

Combined, the three played 183 international games; Birchard-Kessel appeared in three IIHF Women’s World Championships, winning gold in 2012, Watchorn was an Olympic gold medallist in 2014 and played at three women’s worlds, and McKeough was part of the Canadian contingent at the 2009 IIHF World Women’s U18 Championship.

So coming back to the national program and having a reunion of sorts behind the bench meant a little bit extra for the trio.

“Between the three of us, our paths have crossed so many times throughout our own playing careers, and we have a lot of shared experiences and values we learned along the way,” Watchorn says. “For the under-18 age group, they’re so young and for a lot of them, it’s their first high-performance environment. So, for us to be able to understand and anticipate those stressors and telling them to focus on just being present, enjoying the time with teammates and making them better, you’re always going to play better.”

Watchorn has always wanted to be a coach. Even during a successful playing career that included Olympics, women’s worlds and hoisting the Clarkson Cup with the CWHL’s Boston Blades of the CWHL in 2015, Watchorn knew she wanted to pass on the positive experiences she’s had in the game.

“I am so fortunate to be part of cultures and teams that truly changed my life,” says the Newcastle, Ont., native, who is the first-ever head coach of the women’s program at Stonehill College, “so my hope is to create that environment and culture for other young women who can come through and be inspired [and] challenged, and become leaders and people who impact the world.”

Although coaching isn’t always the plan for players, hockey sometimes finds a way back. After hanging up her skates after a five-year college career at the University of Wisconsin (which included an NCAA national title in 2011), McKeough thought coaching was one of the last things she would be doing with her free time.

But the game eventually took her to Sweden, where she was able to get a taste of coaching and was bitten by the bug. To this day, McKeough admits it continues to surprise her every time she walks into the rink as a full-time coach.

“Hockey players are humans first,” the Carlsbad Springs, Ont., product says. “I learned through coaching that we have to help the person before helping the hockey player, and being able to be there for somebody is something that motivates me when I show up at the rink every day.”

As an assistant coach with the University of Ottawa, McKeough gets to work and learn from veteran U SPORTS coaches like Vicky Sunohara (Toronto), Rachel Flanagan (Guelph) and Gee-Gees bench boss Chelsea Grills. They’ve been able to set examples for McKeough previously as a player and now as a coach.

“Vicky was actually one of my coaches at my first U18 camp and Rachel was an assistant coach during one of my years on the under-22 team, so now that I get to work with them, I’ve been able to gain a more deeper respect for what they do as coaches.

“By having those ’If you see it, you can be it‘ situations, I’ve been able to continue to build those relationships with other coaches and the players.”

The growth and visibility of women in coaching and leadership positions continues to grow. Just this summer, Hockey Canada alumna Jessica Campbell was hired as an assistant coach by the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, longtime national team defenceman Laura Fortino took on the same role with the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs, and 2022 Olympic gold medallists Marie-Philip Poulin and Rebecca Johnston took on player development roles with the Montreal Canadiens and Calgary Flames, respectively.

“Diversity in leadership is so valuable,” Watchorn says. “For people to bring different backgrounds, and to be able to relate to the players, it’s just so important. If you see it, you can be it.”

My first introduction with the women’s game was many years ago when I was playing hockey at the University of New Brunswick in the mid-1990s. They didn’t have a women’s varsity team, but they had a club team, and every once in a while, the team needed extra support with coaching. So, for a brief time while I was playing, I jumped on the ice to help.

After that, I started to build my own coaching career on the men’s side. I was actually in Calgary working at Hockey Canada’s under-17 camp and I received a call from Darren Sutherland at Hockey Nova Scotia. He said they had to make a last-minute coaching change for their Canada Winter Games women’s hockey team, and called me first to see if I had anyone I would recommend. I think I gave them three names, but two weren’t available and one wasn’t interested, so they called me back and just asked me if I would be interested. I jumped at the opportunity and I coached at that Canada Winter Games in 2015.

The following year, that group of women I coached at the Canada Winter Games got together and wrote a letter to Hockey Nova Scotia to recommend me or nominate me for a coaching award, and I ended up winning that award. It’s kind of a cheesy part of the story, but they were playing on my heartstrings a little bit and I got hooked to women’s hockey right away.

One of the biggest reasons why I love coaching in women’s hockey is the passion they have for the game. The other part is just the high-performance side of it—when you’re coaching these women, they are true professionals. They invest almost all their time in their craft. But it really comes down to their passion. The passion they have for the game, the passion they have to play for their country and the passion they have for each other really separates them from anybody else that I’ve ever coached. They are just a special group of athletes.

I honestly feel spoiled all the time working with Canada’s National Women’s Team. Every day is fun working with these players and staff. I think the biggest thing driving me as a coach is I still think this group has room to grow. I think we’ve taken huge strides in the right direction. We’re a better team now than we have been in the past. They genuinely care about each other’s success, and they share in those successes. I just still think there’s room to improve, and if I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t be doing my job.

Some of the best parts about coaching this team are things no one would ever see. Like when you have a video session with an athlete and you bridge a gap with them and you can see them excel in that area on the ice. It’s just that little look you get when they come off the ice after they’ve accomplished something that you’ve discussed with them. Those moments to me are the real special ones. The wins and all that, that’s obviously fun, but a lot of the times they’re more of a relief than they are a high moment. It’s the little moments along the way.

I remember one special moment at the Olympics in Beijing. Because of COVID-19, the athletes had to put the medals around each other’s necks. That was just so unique and special. You look at each one while they’re doing it, and you just have a story in your head for each of those people. Maybe it’s an obstacle they had to overcome to be in that situation. Several of them had been released from the team prior to world championships, and they did what they could to get back into the mix. So, I remember just almost checking out mentally during that five-minute span of the medal ceremony and just reflecting on some of the cool stories that each person had to overcome to get to that moment. To see them getting an Olympic gold medal around their necks from one of their teammates was a pretty cool experience.

Mike Johnston coached me at the University of New Brunswick. He’s actually Rebecca Johnston’s uncle, which is funny. When I first started coaching, he told me no matter what I do in hockey, always have your province’s back. A lot of people, when they first get that opportunity in U18 or junior hockey, they forget about their provincial program. I looked up to him so much when I was younger, so I always made sure that no matter what job I had in the game, if Hockey Nova Scotia ever reached out to me, I’d be there to volunteer and to help. If I had went along my route of coaching in junior hockey or university hockey, I never would have had the experiences that ended up benefitting me the most with this job. The best experiences I had with my provincial Member were participating in short-term events, working with the best players and coaches, and gaining more high-performance experience.

Another good piece of advice I got a long time ago was simple—meet people where they’re at, even at the national team level. There are athletes coming in that are four-time Olympians, then there are some that are just hoping to get centralized or make a world championship team. As a coach, it’s so important to understand the different dynamics, and the dynamics in the women’s game tend to be much different than in the men’s game.

When I first started coaching, one of the typical questions people asked me was the difference between coaching men and coaching women. I think a lot of people make a mistake in trying to put an umbrella over their group. I always thought good coaches coach their athletes as individuals. Take the time to get to know your athletes and know what goals they have and what they want to achieve. Right now, we are trying to build our program to win a gold medal at the 2026 Olympic Games. In order to get there, I think we need to really take care of a lot of the individual stories that are involved on our team. That will be a bit more of my focus in these first few years of the quad as we get ready for 2026.

Just a few years ago, Laurence Beaulieu would never have seen herself as a full-time hockey coach.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Montreal – playing five years with the Carabins and winning a U SPORTS national title in 2016 – and then a specialized graduate diploma (DESS) in sports management from HEC Montreal, the defenceman joined the Canadiennes de Montréal of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) in 2017.

She spent only one season with the Canadiennes, calling it a career at the age of 26 to become a coach.

“It was more or less by chance,” says Beaulieu, the national winner of the BFL Female Coach of the Year in the Competitive category. “I started [coaching] when I was 16. From then until my year with the Canadiennes, I was a summer coach at the AAA level. I was a private coach for both boys and girls, but I never really thought about coaching a full season. I was so overwhelmed with what I was doing as an athlete that I never thought there would be a next step.”

Beaulieu, 30, got a full-time job as a player development assistant with Hockey Quebec, but to do so, she had to give up her on-ice career. The benefits, though, were obvious.

“My work at Hockey Quebec gave me the opportunity to learn more about development,” says the Stoneham, Que., native. “Someone from the Richelieu region approached me because he really wanted to manage a team with a woman. I don’t know how he found me or what contact it was, but it was the father of a player I had met, and he said that he really wanted to run the [Cégep André-Laurendeau] team with me. I told him I wanted to be an assistant, but nothing more. Then I found out that I liked it more than I thought I would.”

The following year, Beaulieu became the head coach of the Remparts du Richelieu U18 AAA team in addition to continuing her position as assistant coach with Cégep André-Laurendeau.

“I wasn’t surprised that I liked coaching, but that I liked it so much. [I liked that] you do it all year long, on weekends, in the evenings... I wanted to do it more than two months a year,” she says.

Beaulieu really enjoys teaching the kids. The fact her players have not yet peaked allows her to maximize the role she plays in their development.

“Those players still have fun in everything they do,” she says. “They really appreciate the investment you make and the time you take for them. That’s something I really like about this age group. They are passionate and still have plenty of goals to achieve at the college or national levels. It’s an age group that is full of goals and potential.”

Still, it’s very important to have fun on the ice at that age. While Beaulieu is well aware of this, she also believes that it is possible to have fun and push yourself at the same time.

“I want the girls to like to surpass themselves while knowing that it’s always necessary to have fun," explains Beaulieu, who served as defence coach with the Titans du Cégep Limoilou last season. “It’s possible to have fun while working 100% all the time. If you go out on the ice every day and you love what you do, you will improve. At the end of the year, those girls come to me for more feedback, to watch more videos. It’s a teachable mentality and the girls want to get more. In the end, it works!”

It’s clear the young coach is passionate about her sport, whether she was on the ice or behind the bench.

But nowhere is that passion more evident than when she is able to share it with others.

“I’m very proud when I see a player’s passion grow over the course of the year," Beaulieu says. “She already loved hockey, but she didn’t realize how much she loved it for details that she probably wasn’t aware of at first. As time goes on, as she practices things, she asks for even more feedback and information. I’m very proud of being able to pass it on; it’s my greatest accomplishment even if it’s not really mine. It takes an athlete who is willing to do it to make it there, but it’s something I really enjoy doing.”

After coaching at the college and U18 AAA levels, Beaulieu does not intend to stop there. Even if there is no rush, she is starting to think about the next steps she could take.

“Obviously, I want to get as high as I can, but I think there are steps to take before that,” she says. Right now, I am in Limoilou and I am really proud of what I am doing. Maybe my next step would be to join Team Quebec at the provincial level. That’s the next step I want to take, but I’m not setting any limits. We’ll see where it takes me.”

There’s purpose behind the name of Amy Doerksen’s hockey camp.

The inaugural event, held in early June in Brandon, Man., was a smashing success and included over 130 young girls, being taught on-ice skills by 12 coaches with an array of experience, those from the grassroots level of the game right up to elite AAA club hockey.

The title of the camp?

The Fierce Female Hockey Camp.

Doerksen, the national winner of the 2022 BFL Female Coach of the Year Award in the Community category, believes in being fierce. She says that’s how women’s hockey is going to break down barriers, overcome hurdles and progress to the status that it deserves.

“It blew me away, the comments that I have received from parents of players who attended, from coaches who participated,” says Doerksen, a lifelong hockey player, longtime coach and extreme advocate for the women’s game. “A quote I got from an under-18 player, who perfectly summarizes exactly the reason why I created this camp … she won a provincial championship this season, she’s playing at the highest level that a girl can play at in minor hockey in Manitoba, and she still had people saying ‘It doesn’t count, you play girls’ hockey.’

“That’s not OK. They need to feel fierce; they need to feel amazing.”

Doerksen speaks from experience. Like many women in the game, she has faced challenges to be heard and seen, challenges that many men simply don’t have to deal with. As a kid, she played ringette – “Girls didn’t play hockey and we were directed into the sport of ringette” – but fell in love with hockey during her junior high school years. Those days in Manitoba, there were few women’s hockey players and Doerksen remembers at age 12 getting dressed for practices next to 16- and 17-year-olds.

Doerksen would continue to excel in hockey over the years and ended up playing for the University of Manitoba. After her days with the Bisons, Doerksen headed to Ryerson University in Toronto (where the talented multi-sport athlete played soccer for the Rams) and, post graduation, lived in Kenora, Ont. It is there when she first entered the coaching ranks with a local high school team.

Doerksen, who is a mom to three and stepmom to one, is a published author of children’s books. On her blog, which can be found at AmyDoerksen.com, she lists five loves: family, feminism, hockey, Canada’s north and books.

She lived in Yellowknife, N.W.T., for just under five years and that time made a lasting impression on Doerksen.

“I’m appreciative of how much the north invested in developing female coaches,” says Doerksen. “I think the rest of Canada can learn a lot from the progressive views of the north. They’re ahead of the game.”

Doerksen has held various coaching and leadership positions in hockey, starting as an assistant coach with the Beaver Brae Broncos high school team in Kenora from 2001-03. She was president of the Yellowknife Women’s Hockey League from 2007-11 and, during her time up north, was also assistant coach of the Northwest Territories girls’ team for the Arctic Winter Games.

This season, Doerksen could be seen on the ice at the grassroots level with an under-7 team and also with high-performance athletes on the Brandon Wheat Kings female U15 club.

Off the ice, Doerksen has also been part of hockey boards and was the U7 division director with Hockey Brandon from 2020-22. Her full list of teams, accomplishments and honours is extremely impressive and too long to list.

But there’s more work to be done. Too many times, Doerksen has been the lone woman on the ice, the lone woman in the hockey boardroom that is still dominated by men. While she has seen progress over the past 20 years of her involvement as a coach and leader, Doerksen says that progress should be happening at a much quicker rate.

“I started crying on the call,” she says when asked about her reaction to being named a BFL Female Coach of the Year. “It was the day after my hockey camp and I was really a hot mess from the experience. I was completely overwhelmed with what an amazing weekend it was. I’m grateful. I’m getting emotional right now because it’s incredible. As women, we need to seek … it’s good to stand up and say ‘Hey, I am good at this, this is something that I’m proud of’. There is that validation piece.

“The reason I get emotional is because I have faced a lot of struggles where I don’t feel that people really have always got the value that I can add. When you’re always coming up against that wall, it feels wonderful to have an organization like Hockey Canada say, ‘Hey we see you and we see what you’re doing.’”

Great leaders tend to brush off admiration, recognition and the spotlight. They immediately give credit to others who have helped them along the way.

That’s Sarah Hilworth.

One of the top coaches in Canadian university hockey, Hilworth led the University of New Brunswick (UNB) women’s team to the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) championship in 2021-22, less than five years after UNB’s women’s hockey program was reinstated into AUS.

For her work, Hilworth was named the national winner of the 2022 BFL Female Coach of the Year Award in the High Performance category. The honour comes on the heels of Hilworth being named AUS Coach of the Year.

“I was floored, I couldn’t even believe it,” the Vancouver native says of the BFL CANADA award. “I was honoured just to be nominated and when they told me I was the recipient … it’s hard to accept something where I know there are so many people involved that, truly, this goes out to them.

“It’s nice to represent something that we have created here in Fredericton that is so special to me and so many people. I’m very proud of everything that our organization has done. I don’t think that I can take full credit because there are so many people who have helped me get to where we are.”

Hockey fans will know the Hilworth name from her playing days. She was a top contributor with the University of Alberta during her five years playing for that program, registering 100 points in her 100-game career. The decorated career came to an abrupt end during Hilworth’s fifth season when she blocked a shot, the puck shattering her knee cap.

There’s no doubt Hilworth was disappointed, as the elite athlete had contracts lined up with plans to head to Europe to play professionally. But she didn’t have too much time to dwell on that as the coaching bug took over.

The transition from player to coach was a pretty natural one, given Hilworth’s passion and knowledge of the game.

“To think back, that kid from inner-city Vancouver, growing up and adoring the sport … I look back and I was always an athlete but I always think I was a coach first. I was the only person in my class playing hockey and only girl playing sports,” says Hilworth. “I remember getting in trouble from my teachers in Grade 3 because I would be drawing up drills in my book and doing up little sign-up sheets and I would be teaching the girls in my class how to play basketball or soccer or any kind of sport. I needed people to play with and I would have these little clinics set up. That’s kind of how my mind was when I was little. It just translated into high school and I started helping coach teams there too.

“I just love it. I love helping people and seeing people enjoy being athletic, whether it’s hockey, baseball, soccer or whatever. The power of sport is pretty incredible.”

She credits Howie Draper for her move into the university coaching ranks. Draper, the long-time University of Alberta head coach who recently led Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team to gold at the 2022 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship, was Hilworth’s head coach from 2008-13.

Hilworth jokes that Draper may have felt bad for her but, in reality, Draper could see the passion and knowledge Hilworth had. He offered her a chance to be an assistant coach on his staff, a role Hilworth held for two seasons before taking a head coaching position at Olds College in Alberta. Hilworth left Olds after two seasons for the opportunity to lead the UNB program.

Today, Hilworth says she’s living the dream. Hockey has given her the opportunity to see the country and the world, has been the reason she went from one coast to another and is pretty much the reason for every aspect of her life.

“It’s given me everything. I’ve never not been an athlete. I’ve never not loved the game,” she says. “It’s something that has given me discipline, taught me hard work, given me goals; some of the best times of my life, some of the worst times of my life. It’s given me my family, my friends. The people that I’ve met along the way are some of the most incredible people. My student-athletes, they’re all family to me. There are so many personal things the game has taught me but the family and people that I’ve met along the way are the people I love and enjoy and I’m so grateful and truly … I’m so blessed.”

Hilworth is thrilled at the investment that UNB has made into its women’s hockey program. She thinks the state of the game is at an all-time high and points to the incredible talent displayed during the recent U18 women’s worlds. Ever the advocate, though, Hilworth says there’s more to be done.

“I would like to see more women in our game. There are a lot of incredible women in our game already and coaching, and a lot of them that I look up to,” she says. “We need to continue to see that investment made into women coaching women. I want to see more equality in terms of how ice is being allocated in female programs versus male programs and how communities are rallying behind their young female hockey players. That’s still something that is missing in our game.”

Every member of Canada’s National Women’s Team began their careers the same way: by playing at the grassroots of our game. Along the way, they had coaches that helped to shape their playing style and boost their love of hockey.

Here’s a look at two players, two coaches and two lasting impressions.

Kristen Campbell and Bill Brown

Bill Brown coached goaltender Kristen Campbell alongside his daughter through the Brandon Minor Hockey Association. Brown noticed Campbell’s talent early on and worked hard to grow the game in the province for her and other girls coming through the program.

Hockey Canada (HC): You started coaching Kristen at a very young age. What are some of your memories of her as a player back then?

Bill Brown (BB): I can remember when we did our draft, the fellow I was volunteering with, he said we have a girl and she wants to be goalie. It was perfect because we were [rotating through] everybody at the time. But Kristen, right from day one, she was a goalie and that's what she wanted to be. Being the old goalie that I was, I had someone in love with the sport who’s is in love with the position. The first thing I saw with Kristen, even at that very, very young age was just so much natural ability. It was things I was showing her about stance and gloves and how to hold your stick. It was like ‘Oh, she's already doing that.’ So, there’s just that natural ability.

HC: Is there anything that stood out to you about Kristen?

BB: When she was playing U18 and then she went to a prep school in Winnipeg, she initiated that change because she saw it as a way to make herself better. And then when [the University of North Dakota] folded [its women’s hockey program] and she was there, I remember messaging her at that time, ‘You'll keep going kid.’ Of course, she found a home [at the University of Wisconsin] and it turned out to be very, very good. But I think the one thing that I tried to pass on to my kids is if you want something, go get it. She's a shining example of wanting something and having the support in order to do it. All of us are so proud of her but she's done so much of it herself.

HC: Bill, what message would you give to Kristen?

BB: Enjoy the moment. Live in the moment, keep working hard and have fun because those moments, they're here and then they're gone. Enjoy the hard work you put in and where it's taken you and see how far it can take you now.

HC: Kristen, what message would you give to Bill?

Kristen Campbell: I would just thank him for everything he did for me when I was younger. I think he recognized potential in me from a young age, and he really pushed me to be better and knew that I wanted to get to the highest level possible.

Emma Maltais and Bradi Cochrane

After an injury during her NCAA hockey career, Bradi Cochrane transitioned into coaching to stay connected with the game. Cochrane helped the Oakville Hornets establish their high-performance program, where she coached forward Emma Maltais from U15 AA through to the Provincial Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).

HC: Can you talk about how you started coaching Emma?

Bradi Cochrane (BC): We were trying to develop this high-performance program with our U15, U18, and U22 programs and Emma was playing U13 boys at the time and we knew she'd be around the transition [age] to come over to girls. We got lucky enough to have her in our U15 program. I'm coaching [in the PWHL] at the time and she was so talented, she played 22 games with me as a U15. So right from a young age when we first got her to the Hornets program, she was [playing in the PWHL]. And then she was with me for three years.

HC: When you first began coaching Emma, what qualities stood out to you?

BC: There's a word that always jumps to my head when I think of Emma and it's the word relentless. She's just relentless in everything she does. I honestly can't tell you that she’s ever had a bad practice. You fight the puck and all that type of stuff, but her effort level and her intensity never changes. And I think that's a special piece; obviously it's special because she is where she is right now. But yeah, relentless. Her work ethic on and off the ice. She's a gym rat, she loves to be in the gym. She loves hard workouts. She's just so passionate about anything she does. I personally feel blessed that I had an opportunity to help her develop.

HC: Bradi, what message would you give to Emma?

BC: First and foremost, I'm just so proud of her. I'm proud of the person and player that she's become. But I see so much more for her in the future, too. I feel like her national team career is really, truly just beginning. If my little [son] can grow up to be like Emma, I'd be pretty happy.

HC: Emma, is there a message you would like to give Bradi?

Emma Maltais: She's incredible. I still talk to her all the time. She's such a good hockey brain, just always watching the game. She really taught me not only how to play the game, but how to think the game. And that's really helped me moving forward into college and into the national level. I think she saw something in me and pushed me to look farther into the game, and look farther into my own future, to believe in myself so I could make it one day.

Looking to get involved behind the bench in your community? Contact your local hockey association and visit HockeyCanada.ca/Coaching for more information.

There’s excitement buzzing around rinks from coast to coast to coast. Skates are freshly sharpened, sticks are newly taped and Canadians are celebrating the return of hockey.

After a season full of uncertainty last year, the return to a sense of normalcy is a welcomed sight for local hockey associations and Hockey Canada Skills Academies (HCSA).

“There’s tournament planning going on and exhibition games going on. Everybody’s just excited to get going,” says Trevor Hanley, a U18 AA coach from Martensville, Sask.

All the programs in Dave Tressor’s school board in Kenora, Ont., were not able to run last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the return of our game, the program at Beaver Brae Secondary School is set to be reinstated in February.

“We’re so excited to have an opportunity to get the academy back and get the students going again,” says Tressor, who is the vice-principal at Beaver Brae.

In Athabasca, Alta., 2020 was supposed to be the inaugural year of its HCSA at Edwin Parr Composite School. The anticipation has grown over the extended start date, but the wait has paid off for the Grade 8 and Grade 9 students.

“Anytime somebody talks to me about hockey academy, I get the stupidest grin on my face because I’m just so excited,” says assistant principal Brenna Liddell. “I’m like a kid on Christmas Day, it’s so exciting. Our kids are having a great time and our parents are really adjusting well.

“I spent two weeks before November break meeting with each of our kids that are in it. We talk about academics, we talk about attendance and then I say, ‘Hey, tell me how hockey academy is going,’ and every single kid smiles and says it is the best thing in the world.”

For Porter Creek Secondary School in Whitehorse, Y.T., it was able to run its HCSA last year, but it focused mainly on skill development due to the restrictions from COVID-19 safety guidelines.

“I think [the students] are excited about the fact that they can do more gameplay [this season],” says Amy Vermeulen, the lead instructor at Porter Creek.

The program at Porter Creek runs in the second semester of the school year, but the buzz about the return of a more normal hockey program is already affecting the students.

“I see a few of them all the time in the halls,” Vermeulen says. “They talk about how excited they are to just get the semester over so they can start the hockey program.”

Local hockey associations across the country are also looking forward to getting back to a sense of normalcy. In Prince Edward Island, teams are back on the ice, but the main difference this season is the amount of time teams are allowed at the rink before practices or games.

Blaine Fitzpatrick, a Charlottetown Minor Hockey coach for the U15 AAA female team, knows the socialization before hitting the ice is beneficial for his team.

“They just wanted to get back to the way it was, be able to hang out, have some fun and chit-chat beforehand. We’re getting closer to that, we’re allowed in 30 minutes before now on a consistent basis, so that gives them that fun time at the rink,” Fitzpatrick says. “The excitement level is much higher because of the opportunity to potentially have a normal season as it was before COVID.”

One thing players in Yellowknife, N.W.T., are looking forward to is the return of tournaments.

“We generally get to play against the other smaller communities,” says U7 assistant coach Patricia Parker. “They come here, we go there and then we get to see a little bit of the town, they get to go to the swimming pools, and that’s the one thing they’re really missing right now.”

Hanley says everyone is back on the ice in his association, with U7 through to U11 teams practicing while U13, U15 and U18 teams have already started league play or are gearing up to begin. Last year, Saskatchewan teams were able to practice throughout the season, but they were limited to eight players on the ice at one time.

“It stretched a lot of guys to be creative and keep it innovative and exciting for the kids, so they’re excited to get back to full teams, working with everybody at once and certainly having the opportunity to coach in games,” Hanley says.

Creativity and adaption have certainly flourished over the past 18 months. With locker room restrictions in Yellowknife, Parker had to adapt to helping her young players get ready.

“They came fully dressed, but we had to tie their skates, untie them and bring them back to the parents,” she says. “We actually got to bond with them more because you got to talk to each kid as you were tying their skates and get to hear what they did on the weekend, or they would tell you what they had for dinner.”

Inspired by the NFL, Fitzpatrick created a playbook with all the team’s basic coverage systems last season so each player on his team can review it whenever they please.

“We don’t have as much time at the rink to go over lines with the group, so [each player] has that in a booklet at home,” he says. “They can spend their own time getting familiarized with that aspect of the game.”

Despite the uncertainties and challenges the pandemic brought, communities from coast to coast to coast are looking forward to using hockey to promote an active lifestyle.

“Mental health was a real concern, and I think this concern was not only throughout the province, but throughout the country,” Tressor says. “The hockey academy program provides a great avenue for students to exercise and get back and socialize again.”

Now that Our Game is Back, everyone is ready to get back to playing the game they love.

“It’s nice to see that they’re going to hopefully have a normal rest of their minor hockey careers and be able to enjoy their time at the rink with their friends,” Fitzpatrick says. “They’re going to work hard and develop, and you never know, maybe give themselves some opportunities down the road. I’m really excited for the kids.”

Every member of Canada’s National Women’s Team began their career the same way: by playing at the grassroots of our game. Along the way, they had coaches who helped to shape their playing style and boost their love of hockey.

Here’s a look at two players, two coaches and two lasting impressions.

Sarah Nurse and Stacey Marnoch

Stacey Marnoch coached Sarah Nurse in the latter part of her minor hockey career. She was head coach while Nurse played two years with the Stoney Creek Sabres (Intermediate AA), and the two have continued to stay in touch along Nurse’s hockey journey.

Hockey Canada (HC): How did you get into coaching?

Stacey Marnoch (SM): I played for a coach that asked us to give back. He was kind of my most impactful coach, so that was important to me. Back in the day, it was parents that were coaching and there were no certifications necessary, so I didn’t know where to start. I contacted the [Ontario Women’s Hockey Association], they put me in touch with Diane Boles who, at the time, was coaching the Stoney Creek Intermediate AA Sabres, and I joined her staff. I was an assistant coach for four years and then took the team over.

HC: Do any memories stand out from coaching Sarah?

SM: There’s a bunch of them… We were out for dinner as a team and my general rule was no fried foods, no dessert. And she convinced me to let them order dessert and everyone would share it, so they’d each have half. When this dessert was coming to the table, to me it just looked like they had all ordered dessert and it just kept coming and I was angry… She was just like ‘Coach, can I talk to you for a second?’ And we stepped aside and she’s like, ‘Listen, I wasn’t cheating, I wasn’t lying. This is a big dessert […] Coach, just breathe because I followed instructions, no worries here.’ She coached me for a minute. I needed it and they needed it. It was wise beyond her years for sure.

HC: Stacey, what message would you give to Sarah?

SM: Just keep being her. I think she really has it figured out. She knows who she is. She’s confident, she’s well spoken. She is aware of her platform and how she chooses to use it. Just keep being you because she is genuinely her in every situation I see her in. And that’s all we can be, right?

HC: Sarah, what message would you give to Stacey?

Sarah Nurse: Stacey, thank you so much. You know how much of an impact you’ve had on me and my hockey career, and also my family as well. I definitely wouldn’t be the player, the person that I am today without you. And I know that you continue to inspire future generations of young girls and your journey is not over. It’s still continuing. And I’m so grateful that you’ve had such an impact on me. Thank you.

Emerance Maschmeyer and Erick Robertson

Erick Robertson began his coaching journey after growing up playing hockey. He began working with Emerance Maschmeyer in her earliest years as a goaltender, and they continue to work together.

HC: Erick, how did you and Emerance start working together?

Erick Robertson (ER): I first met Emerance when she was six or seven years old… I met her through her dad, Arlan, who at the time wanted her to make Team Brick Alberta, the big [U9] tournament out here. So of course, Emerance worked hard and made that tournament. I’ve been coaching Emerance ever since. Not too many 10-year-olds say that they want to go to Harvard, but that was one of her goals when she was 10 years old. Of course, later on, that’s where she ended up going and playing hockey on a scholarship.

HC: When you first began coaching Emerance, what qualities stood out to you?

ER: Em was really special from the beginning… I think there was some pretty strong family values there too with all her siblings playing hockey. Of course, I think that’s how she ended up becoming the goalie she is, for sure. But right from day one, she had that drive and that work ethic and always played at a top level, not only with the girls, but [she was also] able to compete with the boys all the way growing up through minor hockey. That competitor was in her right from day one.

HC: Erick, what message would you give to Emerance?

ER: We’re so very proud of her. Just all the hard work that she’s put into her game. I’m blown away every summer that I do see her, just her improvement and especially lately leading up to the worlds, then obviously now the Olympics, [it’s] that determination and drive that she [has] to succeed. She’s willing to do anything to get there.

HC: Emerance, what message would you give to Erick?

Emerance Maschmeyer: I would say that this gold medal that I received [from the IIHF Women’s World Championship in August], part of it is for him and I wouldn’t have it without him. I know that I wouldn’t be at the level I’m at right now in my game if I didn’t ever cross paths with him. I have a lot to thank him for. He’s great.

Looking to get involved behind the bench in your community? Contact your local hockey association and visit HockeyCanada.ca/coaching for more information.