Delaney Collins (Fraser Valley, FMAAA) will serve as head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team, with assistant coaches and Amanda Benoit-Wark (Ridley College, CAHS) and Darren Turcotte (Nipissing University, OUA), and goaltending coach Joe Johnston (Dalhousie University, AUS).

Collins served as an assistant coach with Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team at the IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in 2015 and 2017, and won a gold-medal with Canada’s National Women’s Development Team at the 2015 Nations Cup. As a player she is a three-time world champion with Canada’s National Women’s Team (2000, 2004, 2007). Collins also served as assistant coach with Mercyhurst University from 2011-16 and worked as an assistant coach with the Okanagan Hockey Academy.

Benoit-Wark has been the head coach of the girls’ hockey team at Ridley College since 2008. As an assistant coach with Canada’s National Women’s Development Team she won a gold medal at the 2015 Nations Cup and claimed silver in 2017. As a player, she is two-time world champion (1999, 2000) with Canada’s National Women’s Team.

Turcotte is currently the head coach of Nipissing University and won gold as an assistant coach with Canada’s National Women’s Development Team at the 2015 Nations Cup. As a player, he was drafted in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers and played 11 NHL seasons with New York, Hartford, Winnipeg, San Jose, St. Louis, and Nashville.

Johnston has been the goaltending coach at Dalhousie University for the past 14 seasons. He previously served as the goaltending coach for Canada’s National Women’s Team during the 2014-15 season and won a gold-medal at the 2014 4 Nations Cup. He has worked with various teams across Canada’s National Women’s Program since 2008.

Hockey Canada also announced the support staff that will work with Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team throughout the 2016-17 season, including video coach Rick Traugott, therapist Trish McBride, massage therapist James Johnston, Dr. Kailey Buller, strength and conditioning coach Vicki Bendus, mental skills coach Paula McQuaid and equipment manager Scott Cyr.

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team selection camp is scheduled for Aug. 5-13 in Calgary, followed by a three-game series against the United States’ Women’s Under-18 Select Team from Aug. 15-20 in Lake Placid, N.Y.

The 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship will take place in Nizhni Novgorod, Russia. Canada will play in Group A with the top-four countries and compete against defending champion USA, Russia and Sweden in the preliminary round.