1995-96 National Women's Team

Pacific Rim Championship

In October 1996, Canadian Hockey held the first evaluation camp working towards the 1998 Olympics in Nagano. Five national level coaches, the Canadian Hockey manager of coaching and the national mentor coach evaluated the players and drafted a list of the top 30 candidates.

From this camp, the coaching staff was named for the Pacific Women's Championship and they, in turn, selected 20 players to represent Canada.

Ages on the team range from our youngest player at 17 to our veteran of 37 years. Five players are three-time gold medalists, and all have international experience. From the 1995 roster, 12 players are returning to action, and the eight others have played in a least one World Championship.

Our coaching staff also reflects this balance. Head coach, Shannon Miller is returning for a fourth time with the team and her second as head coach.

Assistant coach Melody Davidson is back behind the bench for her third time having won gold at the 1994 World Championship and 1995 Pacific Championship. Canada's newest coaching staff member is Karen Hughes. Hughes spent a year as a member of the national coaching pool and will be making her debut at an international event in Richmond, B.C.

Canada's national women's team has an impressive record - only one loss in official international competition since 1990, that being a 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Americans in 1995 - but recognizing the tremendous growth of women's hockey around the world, Canadian Hockey will continue improve its scouting and evaluation systems to stay one step ahead.