CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada has announced the official hiring of Troy Ryan (Spryfield, N.S.) as head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Team for the next four years.

During this four-year Olympic cycle, Ryan will lead Canada’s National Women’s Team through major international events such as the IIHF Women’s World Championship and Rivalry Series, culminating with the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy.

“I am incredibly honoured to have the opportunity to work with this amazing group of high-performance athletes and staff as we build on the success of the past year,” said Ryan. “It’s an exciting time for our program and we have a special opportunity to upgrade our way both on and off the ice.”

Along with back-to-back gold medals at the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Calgary and 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China, Ryan also earned a silver medal at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, silver at the 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Plymouth, Mich., and bronze at the 2019 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Espoo, Finland as an assistant coach. Ryan also earned a silver medal as head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team at the 2017 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship.

As Atlantic Canada female coach mentor with the Canadian Sport Centre Atlantic since 2016, he served as head coach of Team Atlantic at the 2015 National Women’s Under-18 Championship and has also been behind the bench three times at the Canada Winter Games (both men’s and women’s hockey), World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, World Junior A Challenge and Centennial Cup, presented by Tim Hortons (formerly the RBC Cup).

“We have been fortunate to have Troy as part of our women’s program since 2017 and as head coach for the past two years. Having him for the next quad is another step in the right direction,” said Gina Kingsbury (Rouyn-Noranda, Que.), director of hockey operations. “Under Troy’s leadership our team has achieved the highest level of success, which is a credit to the leadership style he brings to our group. Troy is not only a great technical and tactical coach, he also has an incredible amount of emotional intelligence that separates him from most. He brings consistency to our entire program and is instrumental in the culture we are building. With Milan 2026 in our sights, we look forward to the next four years under Troy’s leadership.”

Ryan is currently looking to guide Canada’s National Women’s Team to back-to-back gold medals at the IIHF Women’s World Championship for the first time since 2000-2001. Canada begins defence of its title against Finland on Aug. 25 in Herning, Denmark.

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