Caroline Ouellette Joins Canadiennes Staff as Technical Skills Coach

News Comes Shortly After Announcing Her Retirement as Player

SportsIreland Compton — Published September 26, 2018

Ouellette published a letter in collaboration with Radio Canada’s Podium on Tuesday afternoon announcing her retirement, addressed to her daughter Liv. The letter states that she never imagined a day would come where she would find peace in no longer playing hockey but that the day Liv came into this world everything changed.

Liv est arrivée… et a tout changé https://t.co/vcr36vqGF6 pic.twitter.com/1yEWSMJQbA

— Radio-Canada Sports (@RC_Sports) 25 September 2018

Ouellette’s 20-year history with the Canadian Women’s National Team and her time with the CWHL are not coming to an end, she is simply turning the page and entering a new chapter.

She will continue her career with both teams as she joins their staff as an assistant coach. This will be in addition to her ongoing involvement with the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team alongside her partner, head coach Julie Chu.

A household name among women’s hockey fans and hockey fans in general, Ouellette has garnered a number of accolades and has left her mark on both the professional and international levels.

At the end of the 2017-2018 season, Ouellette surpassed CWHL commissioner Jayna Hefford’s record in all-time goals, notching her 131st goal shortly after giving birth to her first child, leaving her just one shy of the league record set by teammate Noémie Marin.

She was named to the CWHL First All-Star Team five times, is a two-time CWHL MVP, and earned the CWHL’s Top Forward honours in 2011.

In 2011, Ouellette was also named the recipient of the Angela James Bowl––awarded to the league’s leading scorer––and was named Clarkson Cup Championship MVP in 2012.

To add to her list of achievements, four Clarkson Cups, four Olympic gold medals with Team Canada, six World Championship wins, and eight Four Nations Cup gold medals. In addition, she has been a driving force behind Les Canadiennes’ annual breast cancer awareness game and campaign, Pink in the Rink and has been recognized through her reception of the Isobel Gathorne-Hardy Award in 2013. The award is given to a female athlete who exemplifies leadership and dedication on and off the ice.

In 2014, she founded the Caroline Ouellette Girls Hockey Celebration in an effort to give young girls a space to compete in a tournament uniquely for them. She also selected a Peewee all-star team, which she has coached at the Quebec International Peewee Hockey Tournament since. She also runs a hockey camp alongside teammate Marie-Philip Poulin, which features appearances from many of her teammates, as well as Chu.

“Thanks to her singular passion, intensity, and drive, Caroline helped define the championship culture at the heart of Les Canadiennes,” said Canadiennes’ General Manager Meg Hewings in a press release on Wednesday afternoon.

“A monumental athlete, mentor, role model and champion of our sport, she has inspired the female game at all levels in Quebec, and throughout the world. We will miss her presence on the ice, but are thrilled that she will continue to have an impact on our athletes, and the club’s future, in this new role.”

Ouellette will continue to lend her skills and wisdom to her former teammates and new faces alike as she embarks on this new journey as technical skills coach with Les Canadiennes and as assistant coach with Team Canada, and as she continues to work with Concordia’s women’s hockey program.