September 29, 2016 | Hockey (W)

Head coach Julie Chu is pleased to announce Canadian Olympians Caroline Ouellette and Lauriane Rougeau have joined the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey coaching staff.

Both will take on assistant coaches roles and work on skill development with the Stingers.

Ouellette has been an integral part of Canada’s national hockey team since 1999. The Montreal native has won four Olympic gold medals and six IIHF World Women’s Hockey championships.

Her coaching experience includes countless camps, working as an assistant coach at University of Minnesota Duluth and with the Stingers in 2012, under the guidance of legendary coach Les Lawton.

“I am excited for the opportunity to return to the Concordia Stingers women's hockey team as part of the coaching staff,” said Ouellette. “I am thankful for the mentorship of Les Lawton earlier in my career. And now thrilled to now join head coach Julie Chu, someone so passionate about our game and that embodies team first attitude in everything that she does.”

Rougeau of Beaconsfield, Que. was a member of the Canadian gold medal team at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. She has been on national teams since 2008 when she represented Canada at the World U18 Championships.

She also has a lot of experience working at hockey camps, but this will be her first experience at an elite team level.

“Coaching has always been in the back of my mind,” Rougeau said. “It’s something I’ve wanted to get involved with for a long time. I love the game and I think coaching is a great way to stay in the game in the future.

“I asked Julie if she had space on her staff. She is such a great leader and coach. It was the natural place for me to want to start coaching.”

Both Ouellette and Rougeau have commitments as active players with Les Canadiennes of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League. They expect to make a minimum of two or three practices a week.

Ouellette along with another Stingers’ assistant coach, Karell Émard, recently took part in the Canada’s National Women’s Team 2016 Fall Festival. They served as assistant coaches as the top 44 female players in the country gathered in Calgary Sept. 11-18.

The camp served as an important evaluation opportunity for coaches and scouts in selecting the team that will represent Canada at the 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championship in 2017.

Dave Singh will also be new to the Chu’s staff this season. Mike McGrath returns for his fourth year with the Stingers and Alex Petizian will work with the goaltenders for a third season.

You can see the 2016 Stingers in action on Friday at 7:30 p.m. as they host Les Canadiennes. Ouellette and Émard will be in the lineup for the visitors.