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Former police officer returns to Canada to coach Calgary Inferno

Canada’s coach when women’s hockey made its Olympic debut in 1998, returns to Calgary where she was a police officer in the 1990s.

“This will feel a bit like coming home,” Miller said Saturday in a statement.

“I respect the league that many people have worked hard to build, attracting the best players in the world, and I’m honoured to move back to Calgary and be a part of it.”

Miller, from Melfort, Sask., coached Canada’s women to a world championship in 1997 and an Olympic silver medal in 1998.

She spent 16 years as head coach of the University of Minnesota-Duluth women’s team and coached the Bulldogs to five NCAA championships.

Miller was told in 2014 that her contract would not be renewed there.

She filed a discrimination lawsuit against the school the following year claiming she lost her job because of her gender and sexual orientation.

Miller was awarded almost $3.75 million in March by a U.S. federal jury for lost wages and benefits and emotional distress.

She told The Canadian Press then that she hadn’t been able to get another coaching job while litigation worked its way through the courts.

Miller replaces Tomas Pacina, who stepped down after one season as the Inferno’s head coach.

The seven-team CWHL began paying its players for the first time this past season, and coaches are paid small sums.

The Inferno went 17-11 last season including an overtime loss and three shootout losses. Calgary lost the Clarkson Cup semifinal to the Kunlun Red Star of China.

News from © Canadian Press Enterprises Inc., 2018