With about six weeks to go before the 2017 CWHL Draft, both GTA teams have added crucial pieces to their respective front offices: they’ve hired new general managers.

The league announced today that Nicole Latreille would replace Rebecca Michael as GM for the Toronto Furies.

From the league:

Latreille comes to the team from Ottawa, ON where she was the Athletic Coordinator and Skill Development Coach for AMPED Sports Lab. Nicole holds a Post Graduate degree in Sports Business Management and has been working for multiple National Sport Organizations for the past eight (8) years...

...A former elite-level hockey player for Guelph University and the Ottawa Raiders, Nicole is hoping to develop an atmosphere where the athletes can focus solely on performance excellence....

...Nicole has also been coaching at all levels for the past ten (10) years. Most notably she was a part of the coaching staff for Team Canada Ball Hockey in 2013 where they captured the Gold Medal.  Nicole has also travelled to Dunedin New Zealand as a Skill Development coach. There she brought her passion for the game and worked with athletes of all ages and levels.

Latreille spent parts of three seasons in the original NWHL, playing left wing with both the Ottawa Raiders and the Brampton Thunder. The 2013 roster of Team Canada Ball Hockey included several CWHL alumnae such as former Fury Britni Smith, former Director of Hockey Operations Jessica O’Grady and former Inferno Chelsea Purcell.

Her new role turns Latreille and Purcell from coach and player to adversaries.

Rebecca Michael named CWHL Director of Hockey Operations

Last week, during her appearance at Puck Talks, Chelsea Purcell confirmed that she would be taking on the role of General Manager for the Brampton Thunder. She joined the team as Assistant General Manager in the 2016-17 season before replacing Lori Dupuis as Interim GM.

Purcell played elite level hockey for six seasons, including three as an original member of Team Alberta/Calgary Inferno and two in the Elite Women’s Hockey League with the Aisulu Almaty of Kazakhstan.

Per reports, Purcell will usher in a new era as the Thunder move to Markham. We’ll have more on that after the CWHL press conference on Tuesday.

Update, August 9th:  The CWHL has now confirmed Chelsea Purcell’s promotion to GM of the Markham Thunder

originally published July 8, 2017

Women's HockeyCanadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL)