In a few months, Kori Cheverie will stand in front of the whiteboard and show exercises to Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, Erin Ambrose and the other players of the future Montreal team in the PWHL.
In the meantime, the team’s still-unnamed head coach got a good rehearsal. She is returning from the Pittsburgh Penguins camp, where she was a guest coach. She stood in front of said whiteboard, but with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kristopher Letang listening to her.
On Tuesday, she returned home after six days in the Penguins entourage. Six days that she mainly spent on the ice, in addition to finding herself behind the bench for a preparatory match on Sunday.
“I was assigned exercises, like all the other coaches,” she said on the phone on Tuesday noon. You have Malkin, Crosby, Letang looking at you and you’re on the board, and I was asked, “Were you nervous?” No, I wasn’t. I know my stuff and if I express myself well, I’m like any other coach. It just happens that I’m a woman and some of these players have never had a female coach. »
She exudes this attitude in all of her comments. For example, when it is pointed out to him that the adjective “first” often comes back to his subject. First full-time woman in a men’s university program in Canada (Ryerson), first on the coaching staff of a Canadian national men’s team (U18 World Cup in 2022), and now, first behind the bench during an NHL game in as a coach, a distinction she shares with Kraken’s Jessica Campbell.
“I’m happy to be the one who can show the way to others. I know it’s not the easiest path, but I don’t want to put too much thought into it because it can be scary. Ultimately, it’s just hockey and that’s what I want to do,” she says.
Good words
His presence was clearly appreciated. During the week, Mike Sullivan, head coach of the Penguins, took a few moments to highlight the appointment of Cheverie as head coach in Montreal.
The recognition was mutual. In his eyes, the Penguins are a “progressive” organization. A seemingly innocuous detail caught her attention.
“They built a women’s locker room next to the men’s coaches’ locker room. You arrive, you have your own space, you are not left out. Your locker room is right next to the others. So, when they welcome other women into their environment, they will feel comfortable. That tells me that this is an organization that wants to continue to progress. »
The Nova Scotian extracted as much information as possible. For example, she will have to organize her team’s training camp, which will begin in mid-November, with a view to starting the season in January. A logistical challenge for any coach. “Our camp will be a little longer than that of the Penguins,” she adds, “but they certainly had good ideas. »
But above all, she was delighted to see the possibilities open up to work with athletes who do nothing but play hockey. If everything goes smoothly, this is also the chance that the players of the six PWHL teams will have.
“It was good to work in an environment where players play without worrying about another job at the same time,” she notes. The amount of information they had to learn in three days was remarkable! I’ve never seen anything like this. »
In Montreal in a month
Kori Cheverie has spent the last six weeks packing. She left her home in New Glasgow on August 8 as an assistant coach for the Canadian national team. She returned on Tuesday, a few weeks later than expected, as Montreal’s head coach.
In the meantime, she passed through St. Catharines and Lake Placid for Hockey Canada camps, through Montreal where she was presented to the media, through Toronto for the draft, then through Pittsburgh. An unforeseen schedule that she obviously welcomes with joy, despite some logistical challenges. For example, when she had to ask a friend who was driving from Nova Scotia to deliver a bag of clothes to her in Montreal. “I have to say that I’m tired of certain clothes! », she says, half discouraged, half amused.
She is currently trying to organize a move to Montreal around October 20. A move in due form, because she intends to stay in Montreal “full time”.
It will be one more way to learn French, which she committed to doing during her presentation to the media. She also modified her profile on X to include a few words in French, and began and concluded the call with polite words in Mononc’Serge’s language. And at the draft, she announced some selections in French.
“Learning French is important to me,” she reiterates. It was also before I accepted this job. In 2022, I also took French lessons during the centralization of the national team. I understand and respect the importance it has for the city and for me. I really want to immerse myself in French.
“I know I don’t speak it yet, but I’m working hard. In life, I work hard at everything I do and it will be no different for French. »
A first meeting with Crosby
Both come from Nova Scotia, both were born in 1987 and have been involved in hockey forever. But Kori Cheverie and Sidney Crosby had never met before last week at Penguins camp. The two had notably participated in the Canada Games in 2003, but their paths had not crossed. “I have always been a big fan of his, because of the way he plays and because we come from the same province. It was very cool to meet him and he did not disappoint. He’s a phenomenal player, even at 19e season. He is exceptional as a player, but even more so as a human. »