Danièle Sauvageau, (born April 22, 1962) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

executive and former coach. Sauvageau was the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the Canadian national women's hockey team that won the gold medal in

ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics Hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics was held at the E Center in West Valley City and Peaks Ice Arena in Provo, Utah, United States. The men's and women's tournaments were won by Canada, defeating the hosts United States in both finals. Me ...

Police career

Originally from Deux-Montagnes, Quebec, Sauvageau served as a police officer with the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

and the

Service de police de la Ville de Montréal The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (, "Montreal Police Service", abbr. SPVM) is the municipal police agency for the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and the neighbouring communities in the urban agglomeration of Montreal. With over 4 ...

for 33 years. According to Sauvageau, she "dealt with everything as a police officer and investigator (911, drugs, morality, surveillance, strategic development, etc." including being part of the responses to the

École Polytechnique massacre École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

and Dawson College shooting.

Hockey career

Sauvageau was the head coach for the Ferland Quatre Glaces (first based out of Brossard, and then Repentigny) team in the League Régionale du Hockey au Féminin in the province of Québec. When the Canadian Under-19 women's hockey team was founded on May 15, 1996, Danielle Sauvageau was the head coach. Two future Olympians played for her:

Caroline Ouellette Caroline Ouellette (born May 25, 1979) is a Canadian former ice hockey player and current associate head coach of the Concordia Stingers women's ice hockey program. She was a member of the Canadian national women's ice hockey team and a member ...

and speed skater

Cindy Klassen Cindy Klassen, (born August 12, 1979) is a Canadian retired long track speed skater. She is a six-time medallist having achieved one gold, two silver, three bronze at the Winter Olympics. She is the only Canadian Olympian to win five medals in ...

. She was assistant coach during the 1998 Olympic Games where Canada finished with silver. Sauvageau was named head coach of Canada's National Women's Hockey Team for the 2001 World Hockey Championship and the 2002 Winter Olympics on June 22, 2000. As head coach of the first Canadian Olympic hockey team to win gold in 50 years, Sauvageau became a Canadian hero. Sauvageau has worked at almost every level of hockey open to female coaches. After the disappointing silver medal showing at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

in Nagano, Sauvageau was named the new head coach of the team and general manager of the Canadian female hockey program. Following eight straight losses to the U.S. team prior to the Olympics, her team-building methods and leadership skills led the team to a gold medal in 2002. In 1999–2000, she became an assistant coach for the

Montreal Rocket The Montreal Rocket were a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for four seasons from 1999 to 2003, based out of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The team was named in honour of Montreal Canadiens great Maurice "Rocket" Richard ...

of the

QMJHL The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

. She was the first female coach in QMJHL history. Sauvageau was the first female NHL Saturday Night Hockey TV analyst for Canada's French station Télévision de Radio-Canada and is the new official spokesperson for the Coaching Association of Canada. She was a member of the successful bid committee for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic bid. As part of the IIHF Ambassador and Mentor Program, Sauvageau was a Hockey Canada coaching mentor that travelled to Bratislava, Slovakia to participate in the 2011 IIHF High Performance Women's Camp from July 4 to 12. As of 2010, she was the general manager of the Montreal Carabins women's ice hockey program. In 2021, she also served as general manager and coach of the Montreal team in the

Professional Women's Hockey Players Association The Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for the promotion of professional women's ice hockey. It was founded in May 2019 following the dissolution of the Canadian Women's Ho ...

. Sauvageau was named the general manager of the

Montreal Victoire The Montreal Victoire () are a professional ice hockey team based in the Greater Montreal area that competes in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). They are one of the six charter franchises of the league. The team plays its home game ...

team in the

Professional Women's Hockey League The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL; , LPHF) is a women's professional ice hockey league in North America. The league comprises eight teams, four each from the United States and Canada. The teams play a Season (sports), regular season ...

(PWHL) in 2023.

Education

She is a graduate of the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

and of the

RCMP Academy, Depot Division RCMP Academy, Depot Division (commonly known as "Depot", not ) is the police training academy for Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) cadets. Providing training since its establishment in 1885, the facility is located in the west part of Reg ...

. She was a sergeant in the

(City of Montreal Police Service).

Awards and honours

*Sauvageau received an Honorary Doctorate of Civil Law (DCL) from Saint Mary's University (Halifax. N.S.) in October 2002 for her leadership in international athletics *In 2004, she was awarded the

Meritorious Service Cross The Meritorious Service Cross () is a State decoration, decoration that is, within the Orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, Canadian system of honours, one of the two Meritorious Service Decorations gifted by the Monarchy of Canada, Canadia ...

(civil division). *In 2008, Sauvageau was inducted into the

Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame The Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame is an honour roll of the top Canadian Olympic athletes, teams, coaches, and builders (officials, administrators, and volunteers). It was established in 1949. Selections are made by a committee appointed by the Cana ...

. *She was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

(OC) as per Canada Gazette of 6 July 2013. *2021 Hockey Canada Female Breakthrough Award

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sauvageau, Daniele Living people 1962 births Canada women's national ice hockey team coaches Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian women police officers Montreal Rocket coaches People from Laurentides Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers Recipients of the Meritorious Service Decoration Université de Montréal alumni Officers of the Order of Canada