Les Canadiennes name Caroline Ouellette, Danièle Sauvageau as associate coaches

Eleven days after Dany Brunet stepped down from head coach of Les Canadiennes de Montreal, the team has announced its new coaches — Caroline Ouellette and Danièle Sauvageau.

The two legends will join current assistant coaches Valérie Bois and Lisa-Marie Breton-Lebreux behind the bench — giving Les Canadiennes an all-female coaching staff, their first since 2009. Ouellette and Sauvageau will join Courtney Kessel (Furies) and Shannon Miller (Inferno) as the only female head coaches in the CWHL.

Ouellette will lead the team. Sauvageau will be a mentor coach, stepping into the head role when Ouellette cannot be there due to prior commitments as the assistant coach of the Concorda Stingers and Hockey Canada.

“I’m honoured to be a part of the organization in this new role, and have always had an interest in coaching with Les Canadiennes after my playing career,” stated Ouellette, in the press release. She’ll be on the hunt for her fifth Clarkson Cup, but her first as a coach.

“Serving the game has been my life,” said Sauvageau, in the league’s release. The founder the Université de Montréal Carabins women’s hockey program, a USports team, she considered the role a homecoming. “I hope to share my experience in the game, and to mentor the coaches and players, as well as continue to shape the professional development of our sport.”

Les Canadiennes are currently in second place in the CWHL with a record of 9-3-0-0 for 18 points. All three of their loses have come at the hands of the Inferno.

Former NHLer Sébastien Bordeleau will also join the organization as a skills coach.