ZURICH – The top-ranked Canadian women’s hockey team has a new coach at the helm for this year’s IIHF World Women’s Championship. The former NHL player, broadcaster and now Team Canada head coach Ryan Walter discusses his first assignment in women’s hockey.

What was your initial impression of the team when you took it over last November?
 
Well I think that hockey Canada has good depth at the women’s highest level. We brought in 34 players to fill 21 spots here for the World Women’s Championship, so there is definitely some good depth and very good skill. These ladies are among the best in the world, and what impressed me most was that they want to be better and take their game to the next level. That really impresses me when I see that in an athlete.

Looking at the team that won gold at the Olympics last year versus the team you have this year, has it changed significantly since then?

There are some changes. We had four or five veterans retire, and anytime you have a quarter of your team move there is room for younger players to fit in and play larger roles. Right now I’m very pleased with the balance between veteran players, the ones in the middle that are really going to push hard, and the younger kids who are just starting out with the program.

Being a former NHL coach, do you take a different approach when coaching a women’s team?

My coaching style is probably pretty conducive to the women’s game. I’m not a yeller or a screamer, and I think the great coaches that I had while in the NHL were down-to-earth and honest and communicated well. I’ve tried to take those qualities to the women’s game, and so far so good. My goal is to try to add value to each of the players first, then to the team as a whole. It’s not about my ego, it’s about our team, and I think that that approach has worked out well so far and we’ll see how it goes.

Would you say your coaching style differs significantly from that of your predecessor Melody Davidson?

I wasn’t in those dressing rooms so I can’t say for sure. But I really like Mel and I think she’s done an amazing job over the last twelve years with the program and she’s a huge help to me as our number-one scout for the program.

Aside from obviously winning gold at the World Women’s Championship, have you set any personal goals for yourself and the team?

Our goal, though it may sound blasé, is to get our best game on the ice no matter who we play. Our focus is that at the end of the night, even if we won 5-0, if we did not play the game we wanted to play I would be disappointed. So our goal is to maximize our team’s performance regardless of the opposition, and we hope that that approach will be enough to win us the tournament.

And do you expect to coach the team all the way to the next Olympics in 2014?

That’s a great question. We are going to have discussions following the world championship with Hockey Canada, and a lot of that will get sorted then.

Do you see this World Women’s Championship as a building block of sorts aimed at developing younger players in time for the Olympics?

For sure. The Four Nations Cup has a little bit of pressure, but at the world championships, where I’ve played four times as a pro, there’s a lot more pressure and it’s a great opportunity for our kids to grow.

For some years now it seems that the United States has been the better team at the World Women’s Championships, winning three of the last four, while Canada tends to be on top at the Olympics. Any thoughts as to why this is?

It’s tough to say. I very much honour the U.S. program, because they are among the best in the world. Their team right now, from the goalie up, is playing a high-calibre game. I’m very much impressed with their program and their players, and we look forward to our games at the world championship.

Any Canadians we should be keeping an eye on in this tourney?

Meaghan Mikkelson on defence is one of the young players that is stepping into a bigger role. If you look at our top six forwards, keep an eye on Marie-Philip Poulin, though any of them can step up in the tournament. Then you got the Wickenheisers and Heffords and the older players who tend to raise themselves when the games on the line, so it should be real fun to watch.

ADAM STEISS