CALGARY – Hockey Canada announced that former NHL player and coach Ryan Walter will serve as head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2011 IIHF World Women’s Championship, taking place April 16-25 in Zurich and Winterthur, Switzerland.
Walter made his debut with Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2010 4 Nations Cup, held in St. John’s and Clarenville, N.L., in November 2010, guiding Canada to the gold medal, including a 3-2 overtime win against the United States in the gold medal game.
He will be joined on the bench at the World Women’s Championship by Dan Church (York University, CIS) and Lisa Jordan (Saint Mary’s University, CIS), who will serve as assistant coaches.
“Hockey Canada is pleased to have Ryan Walter lead Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2011 IIHF World Women’s Championship in Switzerland,” said Brad Pascall, Hockey Canada’s vice-president of hockey operations and national teams. “Ryan, along with Dan and Lisa, will provide great experience behind the bench as Canada strives for a tenth world championship.”
Ryan Walter has extensive experience playing at the international level, and this year made his mark coaching with Hockey Canada, leading Canada’s National Women’s Team to its twelfth 4 Nations Cup gold medal.
Prior to coaching Canada, the New Westminster, B.C., native captained Canada’s National Junior Team in 1978, winning a bronze medal and recording two goals and six assists over six games at the 1978 IIHF World U20 Championship in Montreal.
Walter also represented his country at the IIHF World Championship on three occasions, during which he collected five goals and five assists over 20 games. He won bronze with Team Canada in 1982.
“I really enjoyed working with the national women’s program at the 4 Nations Cup, and look forward to the 2011 IIHF World Women’s Championship,” Walter said. “We have a lot of work ahead of us, but I know our players and staff are a strong team capable of accomplishing our ultimate goal of winning gold."
Walter, 52, played in 1,003 NHL games with three different teams: the Washington Capitals, Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks. In total, he accumulated 646 points over 15 seasons in the NHL, including a career high of 38 goals and 49 assists for Washington in 1981-82. He also won a Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1986. He was the second pick overall in the 1978 NHL draft and played in the 1983 NHL All-Star Game.
After his playing career, Walter worked for TSN as a colour commentator from 1993 to 1998, where he focused on international hockey and the NHL, subsequently becoming a commentator on television broadcasts for the Vancouver Canucks from 1996 to 2002. He moved from the broadcast booth to the bench in 2008, serving as an assistant coach with Vancouver through the 2009-10 season.
Five letters of intent to bid for 2013 World Women’sFive groups have submitted letters indicating their intent to submit a bid to host the 2013 IIHF World Women’s Championship that will take place in Canada:
- City of Kamloops
- Destination St. John’s/Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador
- Ontario Women’s Hockey Association
- Ottawa Senators Sports and Entertainment
- Vancouver Island Amateur Hockey Association
The five bid applicants interested in hosting the 2013 IIHF World Women’s Championship must next submit written presentations to Hockey Canada by March 4. The site selection committee will then review the written presentations and short-list bid groups for in-person presentations to take place in April.
The selection committee consists of Bob Nicholson, Hockey Canada’s president/CEO; Ken Corbett, chair of Hockey Canada’s Board of Directors; Scott Smith, Hockey Canada’s chief operating officer, and Scott Farley, Hockey Canada’s vice-president of marketing services and events. Hockey Canada’s Board of Directors will approve a winning host city (or cities) for the 2013 IIHF World Women’s Championship by the end of April 2011, with a public announcement to follow.
The 2013 IIHF World Women’s Championship is scheduled for March 31-April 9, 2013, subject to final approval by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The Canadian location that wins the bid process will host 21 games over eight days, while benefitting from the economic and cultural impacts of opening its doors to the international women’s hockey community. It will be the final world women’s championship prior to the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
The 2013 tournament will mark the sixth time that Canada has hosted the IIHF World Women’s Championship, including the inaugural event in 1990 in Ottawa, Ont., followed by 1997 in Kitchener, Ont., 2000 in Mississauga, Ont., 2004 in Halifax, N.S., and 2007 in Winnipeg, Man.
