Throwback: Melfort-raised woman coaching women’s Olympic hockey team

Hockey  will never look better than it will when the Canadian Women’s Olympic hockey team takes to the ice during the 18th Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan this month.

Twenty women ranging in age from 18 to 39 years and representing communities from coast to coast were chosen to the Canadian team that will make history as one of the first group of athletes to play women’s hockey as a recognized medal sport at the 1998 Olympics. Leading them in their quest for Olympic gold is Tisdale-born and Melfort-raised Shannon Miller.

Miller’s rise to the pinnacle of Canadian women's hockey has been just as meteoric as the rapid popularity growth the sport has experienced across the nation. That an estimated 86,000 Canadian girls are currently playing the male-dominated sport can be directly credited to the phenomenal suc-ess of Miller and her team.

 “They’re doing the groundwork,” remarked Miller’s mother Laurann, who resides in Melfort and works in Tisdale.

Though Miller’s career as a hockey player was not as stellar as that of her coaching career, it was those early beginnings as one of few female hockey players that provided the foundation for the championship winning philosophy that has taken Miller to the heights she has reached today.

Miller was born in Tisdale and completed Kindergarten here before moving with her mother and late father Elmer to Melfort. While in Tisdale, Elmer Miller is best remembered as a physical education teacher and coach at TUCS, teaching alongside Tisdale’s Louise Fisher and current Saskatoon mayor Henry Dayday.

While she started her on-ice career on figure skates, Miller’s ascent up the Canadian women's hockey movement ladder began when she was 12. According to her mother, Miller joined a Melfort girls hockey team started by her junior high phys. ed. teacher Bill Fawn. She continued to play girls hockey in Melfort until graduating from high school.

From there, she moved on to pursue her Bachelor of Physical Education degree at the University of Saskatchewan. While attending university, she continued to play women’s hockey with the Saskies. Though their performance was nothing to write home about, the highlight of Miller’s playing career with the Saskies was the year the team competed in the first Canadian Women’s National Hockey Cha-pionships.

According to her mother, Miller played centre the duration of her hockey career. While she characterized her daughter as an "average player", the same cannot be said about her coaching.

“She loves coaching. That's where her heart is. She seems to have a natural ability as a coach.”

Miller’s early beginnings behind the bench provided no indication of what the future would hold however. In 1988, she moved to Calgary to join the Calgary Police Service. Around the same time, she made the transition from player to coach, starting the first girls minor hockey team in Cow Town.

“They were the only ones so they had no one to play against except the boys. They got beat 19-0 in their first game,” Miller’s mother recalled.

The dismal start did not disillusion Miller. The following season, her girls climbed to the mid-way point in league standings and by their third year together, the girls team had won minor hockey week.

Other people also began to take note of Miller’s success behind the bench and Hockey Alberta soon hired her as an assistant coach for the Canada Games team. From there, she moved up the ranks to Team Canada and was subsequently hired to head the first international high performance women’s hockey program by the Olympic Oval in Calgary.

As an assistant coach of the national women’s team, Miller had a in leading the Canadian women to World Championships in 1990, 1992 and 1994. She took over as head coach of the team in July of 1996 and took full credit for Canada’s unprecedented fourth successive world title win in 1997. She was appointed head coach of the first Canadian Women’s Olympic hockey team in April of 1996.

Miller and the Canadian team head into the Olympics under a lot of pressure, dogged by great expectations from is country that has yet to see their team beaten at the international level when gold is on the line. Heading into the event as the odds on favorite, the Canadian team will face fierce competition from a hungry U.S. team determined not to finish second best once again, and a strong Finnish team.

“Finland has come a long way and they weren’t in the pre-Olympic series so it’s hard to know what to expect,” Miller’s mom told the Review. “They’re going to be good competition too.”

Canada will be joined by Japan, China. Sweden, Finland and the US in their quest for Olympic gold. Ironically, many of the opponents the Canadian women will face at the Olympics have trained directly under Miller through the women's high performance hockey program in Calgary.

“Women come from all over the world to train with [Shannon],” Miller’s mother explained.

Whether knowing many of their opponents strengths and weaknesses will be of benefit to the Canadian team or not remains to be seen. If the results of a pre-Olympic exhibition series between Canada and the U.S are any indication to come, the Canadians may have the edge. After three meetings on both Canadian and U.S. soil during the month of January, the Canadian women emerged on top with a 7-6 series win.

That win was by no means easy, however.

“There were a lot of overtime games.” Miller’s mother stated.

Miller is well aware that winning Olympic gold will not conic without a fierce battle but her team has faced those odds before. In conversation with her daughter Jan. 30, the day the Canadian team departed for Nagano. Miller's spirits were high.

They’re very positive about winning. They have their eyes on that gold medal.”

Understandably, coaching the Canadian national women’s team at the Olympics is the highlight of Miller’s career. What challenge she will take on next is anyone’s guess, according to her mother.

Miller is currently on a three year leave of absence from the Calgary Police Association.

“She’s going to have lots of opportunities. She could go back to the Calgary City Police. She’s also the coach of the high performance team,” her mother said. “When she was coaching the national team, she was also working full-time at the Olympic Oval.”

 Regardless of what direction she may take in the months and years to come. Miller’s current focus is on winning Olympic gold. And though she can’t be them cheering from the stands in Nagano. you can tell Miller’s mother will be with her daughter every step of the way.

“I'll be watching it on TV just like everyone else,” she remarked.

The Canadian Women's Olympic team will meet Sweden in exhibition action on Feb. 4. Their Olympic game schedule is as follows: Feb. 9 vs. Japan; Feb. 10 vs. Sweden; Feb. 12 vs. Finland; Feb. 14 vs. U.S. The gold medal final will be played on Feb. 17.

Editor’s note: The United States would win gold after beating Canada in the final. Miller would then serve as the head coach of the Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs women’s ice hockey team from 1999 to 2015. She was one of the most successful coaches in NCAA Division I history.