There was a silver lining to losing the gold-medal game at the recent U18 world women’s hockey championship for Team Canada assistant coach France Montour.
“That was a great accomplishment. I know you want to come back with the gold, but we did come back with a medal so that was nice,” said the bench boss for the midget A St. Albert Rush.
Led by Hannah Brandt’s one goal and three assists, the United States downed Canada 5-2 at worlds in Stockholm, Sweden. Emily Fulton of Stratford, Ont., and Katie Josephs of Cochrane, scored for Canada in period two.
“I’m very proud of the girls. They played pretty hard. They just edged us a little bit,” Montour said. “It was sad to lose but at the same time the team learned and improved the two weeks we were there so that’s a good thing to see. It was very rewarding as a coach to watch them do that.”
The United States tallied twice on the power play in the opening period and made it 3-0 early in the second. After 40 minutes it was 4-2. Their fifth goal was deposited into an empty net.
“To be down two goals, it’s difficult, especially when they scored on the power play in the first period,” Montour said. “The good thing was we never gave up. We tied the second [at two goals apiece] and in the third period we played excellent but couldn’t score.”
Canada and the United States have battled for the gold medal in all four years the tournament has been held, with the Americans winning three times. Canada captured last year’s title 5-4 in overtime in Chicago.
“The teams have such a passion for hockey. You can just feel it,” said Montour.
The selection camp for worlds was held in mid-December, as Montour, assistant coach Cassandra Turner of Campbellford, Ont., and head coach Sarah Hodges of Regina evaluated 31 players before declaring the 20-player roster. At worlds Canada finished 4-1.
“We just showed them a system and tried to improve their skill and they improved so much,” Montour said. “I worked with the forwards. My role was the power play and five-on-five and the practices.”
Her hockey background includes 10 games with the national team from 1990 to ’92, when she scored 10 goals and added five assists patrolling right wing.
“My career highlight was probably the first world championship I played when we won the gold medal in Ottawa in 1990. That’s when we went against the U.S. It was cool,” said Montour, who grew up in a little town near Trois-Rivieres, Que. “After that I coached a little bit here with minor hockey in St. Albert and then I went to Japan for one season. I was a player/coach [on a women’s club team] and I worked with the program there for the national team.”
In 1994 she moved to Switzerland and served as a player/coach in the Swiss women’s hockey league.
“I played in a town close to Zurich. I also coached the Swiss national team for three years. It was a great experience.”
Montour returned to Edmonton in 1997 and took a break from hockey.
“I just decided to do something different.”
Montour, 45, caught the coaching bug last season when the national team was in the Edmonton area playing midget AAA boys’ teams in preparation for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. She was approached about getting involved in the game as a coach.
“I have all of my qualifications as a coach because I coached internationally,” she said. “I’ve been coached by great coaches and learned a lot. I decided to pass my knowledge back to the players and help them become better players and maybe they will be with the national team and win some gold.”
After discussions with Hockey Canada, Montour went through a selection process before her spot was finalized on the U18 coaching staff.
“It was very nice to work with Hockey Canada. It’s always a great experience. They supply you with such great material and you’re surrounded by very highly skilled people so you learn from everybody.”
Montour is committed to the Hockey Canada program, leading up to the 2014 Olympics in Russia.
“This year my role was to coach the under-18s, so as far as I know I’m done with Hockey Canada this year because the team is done. They will have to review their program and then they will contact me about my next step,” said Montour, who works at the Sturgeon Community Hospital as a power engineer, managing the building’s heating and air conditioning system. “Right now I’m involved with Hockey Alberta. I will be the head coach for the zone St. Albert is in for the Alberta Challenge [for females born in 1996 and 1997, starting April 27 in Fort Saskatchewan].”
