Montreal's general manager Daniele Sauvageau looks on from the stands during the Professional Women's Hockey League’s (PWHL) 2023 training camp in Montreal.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
Hockey Canada is turning to a familiar face to oversee the next generation of its women’s team by naming Daniele Sauvageau as general manager on Wednesday.
The 64-year-old Hockey Hall of Famer reprises the role she held as GM and coach of Canada’s first gold medal-winning women’s team at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. And the hiring comes after Sauvageau won the PWHL Walter Cup in May as GM of the Montreal Victoire.
Sauvageau’s contract with Hockey Canada runs through the 2030 Games in France. And she will maintain her position with the Victoire through next season before joining Hockey Canada in a full-time role in also helping guide the women’s Under-18 and development teams.
“Joining Hockey Canada as general manager of the National Women’s Program is a privilege,” Sauvageau said. “Working alongside the country’s best women’s hockey players and staff as we prepare for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games is an incredible opportunity and we have our sights set on showing the very best performance at every opportunity along the way.”
Sauvageau replaces Gina Kingsbury, whose contract was not renewed after eight seasons. Among her first priorities are hiring a new coach after Troy Ryan elected to not renew his contract after six years this spring.
The moves come after Canada settled for silver in losing the gold-medal final to the United States at the Milan Games in February. The Canadians are also expected to enter a transitional phase with a much-needed injection of young talent to replace numerous veterans who are anticipated to retire before 2030.
Among the aging stars are 35-year-old captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who has yet to determine her future.
The U.S., meantime, has already made the transition to youth and featured an Olympic team that included seven players still in college.
Though Canada leads with 13 world hockey titles, the U.S. is second with 11 and has won seven of the past 10 tournaments. Canada also has a 5-3 edge over the Americans in Olympic gold medals.
Montreal Victoire head coach Kori Cheverie hoists the Walter Cup alongside general manager Daniele Sauvageau during the Victoire's championship celebration in Montreal earlier this year.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
“We need to develop not only the national team, but the rest of the country,” Sauvageau said. “Tremendous work has been done over the last years. But now it’s just a matter of, [with] the new landscape, to make sure that we are agile, accurate and on top of supporting the best athletes across the country.”
Sauvageau, in 2025, became the first woman hall of fame inductee in the builder’s category. She’s a former Montreal police officer and was the first female coach in the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League, serving as an assistant with the Montreal Rocket in 1999-2000.
She founded the University of Montreal women’s hockey team and founded a women’s hockey high-performance centre in Verdun, Quebec.