CALGARY — Hannah Miller’s play earned her a spot on Canada’s roster for the women’s world hockey championship, but it couldn’t overcome International Ice Hockey Federation transfer rules.
The 29-year-old forward from North Vancouver, B.C., was replaced Monday by Julie Gosling for the April 9-20 championship.
Miller, who plays for the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Toronto Sceptres, would have made her world championship debut in Ceske Budejovice, Czechia, with defending champion Canada.
Before joining the PWHL, Miller played for the Chinese club team KRS Shenzhen in 2022-23. Her contract expired May 31, 2023.
Miller also played for China in the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing and in a Division 1 world championship that year.
But the reason Miller is ineligible is she was under contract to a club in another country less than two years ago, said national team general manager Gina Kingsbury.
Miller was among 25 players announced for Canada’s roster March 21.
“She deserves to be on that team,” Kingsbury said.
Hockey Canada has an agreement with its women’s national team athletes that they will be notified of their inclusion on a roster three weeks before the event.
“At the time of us having to name our team internally, we didn’t have the answer officially if she was eligible or not,” Kingsbury said.
“I didn’t know that she had a contract in that year, so we were going off the premise that the last time she played for China was in 2022, so she was well past the 730 days required.
“I was very confident, I wouldn’t say overconfident, but I had some communications with the IIHF, and that wasn’t one of the line items that was presented to me as a potential obstacle.
“It took a little bit to get some paperwork back from China, and then it came back that contract that she had would be something that would make her ineligible.”
Kingsbury said she consulted Hockey Canada’s lawyer, but the IIHF rules on the two-year window were definitive.
“We have to agree to follow the bylaws and the rules by the IIHF,” she said.
“Hate to put an athlete in this position, but I think the silver lining of it is she knows that she’s in the mix. She’s in that group in a sense, and hopefully that gives her confidence moving forward.”
Miller knew when she was named to the team her eligibility was still a wrinkle to be ironed out, Kingsbury said.
“She’s definitely disappointed. I think the exact words out of her mouth was, ‘I figured that this could possibly happen honestly,'” Kingsbury said.
“She was well aware she hadn’t yet fully got the green light from the IIHF that she was eligible, but we were confident that it probably will hopefully will pass.
“Based on timelines, as we were naming our team, we felt with the information we had and the way she’s been performing, she deserved to be on that roster.”
Miller played for Canada in the women’s world under-18 hockey championship in both 2013 and 2014.
She ranks second in points for the PWHL’s Sceptres with 10 goals and 14 assists in 26 games.
Gosling made her world championship debut last year in Utica, N.Y., where Canada reclaimed the gold medal with a 6-5 overtime win over the United States in the final.
She scored twice, including once in the final, in seven games in Utica.
Gosling is Miller’s PWHL teammate in Toronto with four goals and six assists in 27 games.
Hockey Canada is expected to name a pool of players this spring for consideration for the 2026 women’s Olympic team.
The two-year timeline would no longer be a barrier to Miller’s Olympic participation, but the IIHF also states a player can switch national eligibility just once in that player’s career.
“It’s not in the bylaws, so that’s where I think we need more clarity from the IIHF on exactly where that lives. It doesn’t live in the bylaws,” Kingsbury said. “Technically speaking, I think the argument would be that she’s not transferring. She’s being reinstated.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2025.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
