Coaching hockey since her days as a student at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Alicia MacDonald has since been behind the bench for more than 20 years.

And during that time, whether it’s reaching out to organizations for her own growth or advocating for more diversity behind the bench, MacDonald has tirelessly worked towards making hockey more inclusive for everyone.

That’s a big reason why the Onslow Mountain, N.S., product has been named the national winner of the BFL Female Coach of the Year in the Competitive category.

“Having the opportunity to see what the opportunities are, whether that’s as an official, or coach or training staff, being and seeing all that, being aware of it, brings more diversity to the game,” MacDonald says. “It’s important that the young girls and kids see the potential, and I see so much value in it and I want to be a face that’s visible to them.”

Growing up, playing on the community boys league and eventually the girls’ team when the opportunity came up, MacDonald first started gravitating to coaching during university. Wanting to give back to the girls in the community and seeing the positive reactions to them having a female role model has pushed MacDonald to want to see more females continue in the sport. Since then, she has continued to refine herself, learning and growing her knowledge of the sport and coaching so that she can apply it to her own teams.

This season, she worked with the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers, shadowing the coaching staff and continuing her development. With no university or other high-performance teams in rural Newfoundland, the Growlers were the only option for her if she wanted to learn in a professional environment. With the organization, she was able to discuss tactics with the Growlers staff, go through video sessions with the team, and provide her thoughts and her experience, while receiving feedback.

That’s why MacDonald preaches the importance finding her own opportunities. From starting out working with local minor hockey teams to serving as an assistant coach with the Newfoundland and Labrador women’s team at the 2023 Canada Winter Games to her most recent role as head coach of the provincial U14 team, it’s about getting comfortable in putting herself out there and looking for opportunities.

“Working with coach Eric Wellwood and the Growlers, I’ve really learned from that program and set myself in a more professional organization,” MacDonald says. “The biggest thing is about being able to take the leap. There’s always going to be situations where you don’t know the solution, but that’s okay. It’s just about trusting the coaches and mentors around you and taking the plunge and going for it.

“We don’t have too many professional opportunities in Newfoundland so it goes back to putting myself out there and asking for situations that I could be involved, and I’ve learned a lot from the coaches and the players.”

With the spotlight that comes with her BFL honour, she hopes to continue her goal of bringing more diverse voices into hockey.

“There were a lot of deserving coaches out there and I hope programs like [BFL Female Coach of the Year] continue so that coaches do feel validated and heard,” MacDonald says. “As a nation, we can be better at highlighting the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC community, creating that diversity for everybody to see what the options are and there’s still a way to go.”

For now, MacDonald hopes she’s able to spread visibility of women behind the bench so others can feel inspired to step up and speak up to achieve their goals. But once spoken, their words will be heard and respected.

“It’s about getting used to speaking up in a room of men and sharing thoughts and opinions,” MacDonald says. “They’re always welcomed and valued, it’s just about believing in yourself.”

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.”

The goaltenders representing Canada at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship will also be representing their counterparts from Canada’s National Women’s Team with new masks commissioned as part of the Janes ALL IN program.

What do all six goaltenders think of the helmets and what it means to be part of Team Canada?

How do you feel being featured on a mask at World Juniors?

Kristen Campbell (KC): The Canadian hockey tradition growing up is watching the World Juniors and the country really rallies around it, so it’s an honour to be recognized and a part of this year’s World Juniors.

Emerance Maschmeyer (EM): Last year there were six trailblazers of women’s hockey that were honoured on the masks, so to be in this year’s edition, it’s pretty incredible to even be put in the category that they are in.

What does it mean to wear a mask featuring the women’s goalies?

Sebastian Cossa (SC): Hockey is for everybody, male or female it doesn’t matter who, so respecting and appreciating the women’s game is important.

Brett Brochu (BB): Credit is due to women’s hockey; they deserve a lot more attention from fans and professional leagues.

Dylan Garand (DG): It’s great hockey that the women play and they’re just as talented as we are, so it’s cool to be able to share this experience with them and have them be a part of it.

What message do you hope young players take from the masks?

Ann-Renée Desbiens (AD): We’re trying to raise awareness of women’s hockey and most Canadians during the holidays are going to be watching World Juniors, so it’s a good discussion starter … it brings a lot of exposure to women’s hockey and it’s nice to have the support of the men’s side.

EM: The visibility of the men’s game is a lot more than the women’s game, so having that platform and having us on their masks for all those young girls who are watching the World Juniors [is important]. Maybe some young girls don’t even know it’s possible to play at the level we’re playing at.

KC: [Whether] we all started playing boys’ hockey or girls’ hockey, it doesn’t matter, and we got to where we are. I think it just shows that you can pave your own road and end up reaching your goals in the end.

What is your favourite part of the mask?

DG: Designing a mask is a unique and personal thing, but I’m not very good at it myself … so to have a mask designed by Emerance is pretty cool. There are some personal things of hers on there that are creative, like the outdoor rink, I like that a lot.

SB: I think the maple syrup is a good touch with being Canadian and especially since Ann-Renée is from Quebec. And then with [the highlighted word] ‘Family’, family to me is everything.

BB: They did a really good job on the mask and the designs are really cool. I love the picture of Kristen. It would definitely be pretty special to have a helmet with you on it.

CALGARY, Alta. – Building off an IIHF World Junior Championship partnership that started in 2018-19, Hockey Canada welcomes Lordco Auto Parts Ltd. as its newest national marketing partner.

As a national marketing partner with a three-year agreement through to 2024, Lordco becomes the presenting sponsor of this year’s Road to the World Juniors pre-tournament schedule and owns the rights to the Future Stars digital program presented during the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship.

“Hockey Canada is proud to welcome Lordco Auto Parts to our corporate partner family and as presenting sponsor of the Road to the World Juniors,” said Dana Gladstone, vice-president of partnership strategy and licensing with Hockey Canada. “Since its initial commitment to the World Juniors in 2018-19, Lordco has continued to increase its involvement and support of Hockey Canada. This partnership reaffirms that commitment that also extends to Hockey Alberta. We are excited to welcome Lordco to Canada’s largest team as it continues to support premier international events and national championships every year.”

Hockey Canada first established a partnership with Lordco in 2018 when it was announced as presenting sponsor of the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship and the pre-tournament schedule as part of the Lordco Road to the World Juniors. That support continued two years later when it again was a sponsor of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton.

“As a Canadian-owned and operated company, Lordco Auto Parts is proud to partner with Hockey Canada,” said Sarah Durant, vice-president of marketing. “We are beyond thrilled to have the opportunity to support our country’s most talented players as they compete on the international stage at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship. Lordco has also supported minor hockey in British Columbia for many years and most recently forged a partnership with Hockey Alberta to do the same. By sharing our company’s core values of loyalty, family and community beyond our core business, we can positively impact the future of young Canadians.”

The auto parts retailer and distributor will also own the rights to all Hockey Canada national events and will enter into a unique partnership with Hockey Alberta as part of its relationship with Hockey Canada.

“In 2021, Hockey Alberta was thrilled to join forces with Lordco Auto Parts and Hockey Canada during the IIHF World Junior Championship for the inaugural Futures Stars program,” said Mike Klass, director of business operations with Hockey Alberta. “We are excited to again join forces with them both for the 2022 World Juniors and expanding our relationship as Lordco brings its reputation of quality and customer service in the auto parts industry to Alberta.”

 

About Lordco Parts Ltd.

Lordco Auto Parts is Canada’s largest privately held automotive parts distributor and Western Canada’s largest distributor and retailer of aftermarket parts and accessories. With over 85 retail locations, two machine shops, seven distribution centres and more than 2,200 employees, Lordco Auto Parts delivers an exceptional customer experience. Visit Lordco.com to learn about the products available and services offered at Lordco Auto Parts locations throughout British Columbia and Alberta.

About Hockey Canada

Hockey Canada is the governing body for hockey in Canada and a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), with a membership through its 13 member associations of over 750,000 players, coaches and officials. Hockey Canada is a not-for-profit organization that creates leading-edge hockey development programs for its members to deliver in communities across Canada; provides consistent rules and regulations and various other membership services from coast to coast to coast; manages numerous regional, national and international hockey championships and events; and leads the operation of all teams that represent Canada in international competition. Hockey Canada’s mission is to lead, develop and promote positive hockey experiences. For more information on Hockey Canada, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along via social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and by using #OurGameIsBack.

Designs from across Canada were submitted for the Janes Design-a-Mask contest in advance of the 2020 IIHF Women’s World Championship. After two COVID-19-related delays, Paige, Madison and Lauryn will finally get to see their helmets donned by Team Canada goaltenders.

Let’s meet the designers behind the masks and get to know a little more about them.

Paige is 15 years old from Miramichi, N.B., and plays defence for the Miramichi Panthers.

Madison is 15 years old from Churchill Falls, N.L., and is a goaltender with the Churchill Falls Thunderbirds.

Lauryn is 14 years old from St. John’s, N.L,, and is an avid Team Canada fan and artist.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MASK?

Paige: I knew I wanted to do a retro look, so I looked up some old hockey mask designs, and I got some inspiration from those. It's black with red stripes, and it's very retro. I saw [the Team Canada] jerseys; they did have black on them, and I thought it would be cool to try something different, so I focused on black.

Madison: I wanted to put some things on it that represented Canada. So, I have the snowflakes on it, because Canada is known for winter. And I have the moose. That represents Canada, but also there's a lot of moose where I'm from, so I wanted to put something that represents where I'm from as well.

Lauryn: From coast to coast, it represents locations all across Canada. I tried to include Canada’s primary colours, red and white, along with the Canadian flag and the Hockey Canada logo.

DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF AN ARTIST?

Paige: Yes. I love drawing. It's one of my favorite hobbies, so this was a great contest for me. My two favourite things, drawing and hockey. It was jackpot for me. I paint, I sculpt. Whatever I could get my hands on, I do it.

Madison: Maybe a little bit. I'm not too good at art, though it is pretty fun. I like it.

Lauryn: Yes! Whether it’s drawing, painting or dancing, I love being creative in everything I do.

DID YOU TAKE ANY SNACK BREAKS WHILE DESIGNING YOUR MASK?

Paige: Yes. Whenever I got frustrated or just needed to get away from trying, I'd go and make myself a nice little snack of Janes chicken fingers.

Madison: I took a couple of breaks for some Janes popcorn chicken.

Lauryn: Absolutely! Nothing better than Janes pub-style chicken burgers.

HOW DID YOU REACT TO YOUR DESIGN BEING SELECTED?

Paige: It was crazy. I didn't think I was going to win. I just thought I'd give it a try, see how it goes. I still can't believe that I actually won the contest.

Madison: It was really cool. I did not think I was going to win at all. It’s like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I did not think I was going to get picked.

Lauryn: I was so excited! I couldn’t wait to meet the goalies and see my mask in action at the women’s world championship.

Getting new gear is always an exciting endeavour, but there is something special about a new goalie mask. The three goaltenders who will be between the pipes for Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship – Ann-Renée Desbiens, Emerance Maschmeyer and Kristen Campbell – are living that excitement, with new looks courtesy of the Janes Design-a-Mask contest.

We caught up with the three netminders to get their reactions to the new masks and how proud they are of the winning designers.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE MASKS?

Emerance Maschmeyer (EM): The masks are very Canadian. The mask with the brick wall, that kind of brings me back to my first-ever painted mask. I had a brick wall on my mask. I think almost every goalie has had that at some point.

Ann-Renée Desbiens (AD): My favorite part about the design is how much Canada pops out. I think that the kids did a great job at really putting Canada front and centre. And I think that's really what a mask should be, representing the team, the country and all that.

Kristen Campbell (KC) – Honestly, just how proud I am to be Canadian. I would say there are a lot of important Canadian things that stick out on those masks. And I just feel like it's really symbolic of Canada.

THE MASKS WERE DESIGNED BY TWO TEENAGERS, ARE YOU IMPRESSED BY THEIR SKILLS?

AD: It's very impressive, because I don't think people realize how complicated designing a helmet can be; there are so many options nowadays and you can go crazy and do so many things. So, the fact that those teenagers that probably didn't design that many masks before were able to put something that represent the essence of Canada and hockey and just the country overall is pretty impressive.

EM: My sister is an artist and I know how hard artists work. Either you have it or you don't. And these two teenagers definitely have it. It's really awesome.

KC: It's hard for me to design masks myself. I always have the picture in my head of how I think I want it to look. And then I always have to get someone to draw it for me because I can't draw at all. So, it's really impressive to see that this is what they've designed themselves.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE DESIGN ELEMENT FROM ANY OF THE MASKS?

KC: I have to go with the designs of the maple leaves, how they have a lot of little leaves there in a row, and how the logos really blend into that whole design.

AD: My favorite element is the moose. I think being from a small town, living in the mountains, we get to see them quite often. It reminds me of home.

EM: The [black and red] mask just has a fierce look to it. It's a super dark mask, but I think that it has an intimidating look, which is really cool.

CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada, in partnership with BFL CANADA, has announced the winners of the BFL Female Coach of the Year awards for the 2020-21 season, concluding today with the national award winners. Introduced as an international marketing partner in October 2019, BFL CANADA’s commitment is to focus on growth and development opportunities for women in the game, on the ice and behind the bench.

Through the program, one high-performance coach and one community coach from each province and the northern territories have been recognized, with a national winner in each category.

BFL FEMALE COACH OF THE YEAR – NATIONAL HIGH-PERFORMANCE WINNER

Noémie Tanguay (Quebec)

An assistant coach with the Titans du Cégep Limoilou since 2014, Tanguay has helped her team win four provincial championships in five appearances. She began coaching shortly after her playing career with the Titans, and enjoys developing as a coach and building relationships with athletes. Tanguay also served as an assistant coach with the Hawks de L’Est for three seasons (2015-17), and serves on the board of directors of the Fonds dédié au développement du hockey féminin dans la Capitale-Nationale, an organization to promote the sport and support girls and women staying involved in hockey. She also volunteers at various tournaments and camps in Quebec City, and has a bachelor’s degree in sports intervention from Laval University.

BFL FEMALE COACH OF THE YEAR – NATIONAL COMMUNITY WINNER

Janelle Forcand (Manitoba)

A dedicated coach on the ice, Forcand is an advocate for women in coaching who uses her influence to give opportunities to other women entering the coaching world. She began her coaching career as an assistant with the Winnipeg East Saints U15 AA team in 2013, and her passion led her to the Winnipeg Jets Hockey Academy in 2016. At the academy, Forcand has served as an assistant coach for both boys’ and girls’ teams, including U15 AA, U13 AA and U11 A3. For the past three seasons, she has served as the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets Hockey Academy U11 Female A3 team. In addition to coaching, Forcand is also the female hockey coordinator for the academy, and has been a board member with the St. James Assiniboia Minor Hockey Association since 2019.

The selection committee included Olympic gold medallists Cassie Campbell-Pascall, Gina Kingsbury, director of women’s national teams with Hockey Canada, and Caroline Ouellette. They were joined by Steve Lacoste, vice-president of sports and leisure with BFL CANADA, and Teal Gove, manager of hockey development with Hockey Canada.

A complete list of winners for each category by province and territory can be found at HockeyCanada.ca/BFLCoach.

For more information on Hockey Canada, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow along via social media on Facebook and Twitter.