CALGARY – Hockey Canada announced Thursday that Dan Church will serve as head coach, while Doug Derraugh and Danielle Goyette will serve as assistant coaches, of Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship, taking place April 7-14 in Burlington, Vermont (USA).

Church (York University, CIS), Derraugh (Cornell University, ECAC) and Goyette (University of Calgary, CIS) all return to the bench after helping Canada claim the silver medal at the 2011 4 Nations Cup in Nyköping, Sweden last November and finishing third at the 2011 IIHF 12 Nations Invitational Tournament, held last August and September in Vierumäki, Finland.

“We have assembled an extremely experienced coaching staff for this year’s world championship,” said Kalli Quinn, director of female national teams for Hockey Canada. “We are confident that they will continue to instill success in our players on the ice and ultimately make our country proud.”

Dan Church, 38, is in his eighth season as head coach of the York University women’s hockey team, following eight years as an assistant coach with the University of Toronto. He has served as president of the CIS Women’s Hockey Coaches Association since 2007 and won a CIAU (now CIS) national championship in 2001 as an assistant coach with the University of Toronto women’s team, under former National Women’s Team head coach Karen Hughes. Church won a silver medal as head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2011 4 Nations Cup, a silver medal as an assistant coach with Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2011 IIHF World Women’s Championship, a gold medal as head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 Team at the 2008 Air Canada Cup and a gold medal as head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team at the 2010 IIHF World Women’s U18 Championship. He also won a gold medal as Canada’s head coach at the 2009 FISU Games in Harbin, China, the first to include women’s hockey.

Doug Derraugh, 43, is in his seventh season as head coach of Cornell University’s women’s hockey team. Derraugh won a silver medal as an assistant coach of Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2011 4 Nations Cup. He guided Cornell to the NCAA national championship game in 2010, along with back-to-back NCAA Frozen Four appearances in 2010 and 2011. He was named the Division I Coach of the Year by the American Hockey Coaches Association in 2010 and ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year in 2011. Derraugh played professionally from 1992 to 2004, recording 604 points in 637 games in Austria, Finland, Germany and Italy.

Danielle Goyette, 46, is in her fifth season as head coach of the University of Calgary’s women’s hockey team. Goyette won a silver medal as an assistant coach of Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2011 4 Nations Cup and has twice served an assistant coach with Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team, winning silver medals at the IIHF World Women’s U18 Championship in 2008 and 2009. As a player, she’s a three-time Olympian with two gold medals and one silver medal and nine-time world champion with eight gold medals and one silver medal. Goyette retired following the 2006-07 season and currently sits third all-time in goals (114), fifth in assists (105) and third in points (219) in Canada’s National Women’s Team history.

The 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship is the 14th since the tournament’s 1990 inception. Canada’s National Women’s Team has appeared in every gold medal game at the IIHF World Women’s Championship, winning nine gold medals (1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, and 2007) and four silver (2005, 2008, 2009 and 2011).

The puck drops Saturday, March 31 at 7 p.m. ET inside the Ottawa Civic Centre on an exhibition game between the United States and Canada in what will serve as a warm-up for this year’s world championship. Individual tickets start at just $15 each plus applicable fees, and are available by going to www.HockeyCanada.ca/2013Ottawa or calling the 613-599-FANS (3267). More information on the training camp for Canada’s National Women’s Team leading up to this year’s world championship will be released soon.