New coach Shelley Coolidge said she expects big things from the hockey team next season
( Photo: Amerlia Johnston )
Athletics has hired the former head coach of the cross-town rival University of Ottawa Gee-Gees to take the reins of the Ravens varsity women’s hockey team in an effort to advance on last season’s run to within an inch of a spot in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) nationals.
Shelley Coolidge officially took over the Ravens on June 1 from Jean-Francois Messier, who coached the five-year-old varsity program this past year.
She immediately got in touch with the new recruits for the upcoming 2009-10 season to let them know their offers were still on the table. She also made it a priority to reach out to current players to ensure they understand that this year’s team goal is nothing short of winning a championship.
“Both Marco [Ouellette, Ravens head coach from 2005-08] and J.F. [Messier] have done an exceptional job in recruiting and building the program here at Carleton,” Coolidge said.
“The student athletes have worked hard and, if you look at last season, it’s like you’re kind of one shot away from going to the first national championship. So that first national championship is still a carrot in every player’s mind.
“I sent an e-mail to the girls the other day,” she said, “and it’s like, ‘you got 267 days until the CIS championship final and what are we doing today to get closer to that goal?’ “
Ravens captain Tara O’Reilly said Coolidge has “the same goal for this year that we do” and that the coach’s competitive spirit and demand for high performance make her confident the women’s hockey program will thrive under the new watch.
“In meeting with [Coolidge], it was clear that she has already developed a plan for the Carleton women’s hockey program and, with her past experience, I can’t see it being anything but successful,” said O’Reilly in an e-mail interview.
A coach for the Gee-Gees for the past six seasons, Coolidge guided the team to a no-lower-than second place finish in their last four seasons of Quebec Student Sports Federation (QSSF) play.
“It was very tough for me to make the final decision to leave the program and the athletes that I coached at U Ottawa,” Coolidge said.
“It was a tough decision to make a change. I’m new to the school here, but it’s nice and it’s exciting and it’s a new opportunity for me to see where we can take things from here.”
Coolidge said that giving the student athletes the best experience they can get is the one thing that she strives for, but that means the players must also be accountable for their own conditioning, behaviour and dedication to the program to make that happen.
She said the team must work together to make each other better this season. An aggressive forecheck, more forced turnovers in the neutral zone and better use of the Ravens’ skilled forwards would also help.
“As a coach, the first priority for me is always taking care of your D zone,” she said. “It’s how you play in your defensive zone and what your responsibilities are there. From there, you progress very quickly into an attack mentality and aggressive pinching mentality. It’s pressing the puck in all situations when you don’t have it. . . . It’s possessing the puck. It’s very Detroit Red Wings style.”