Queen's Athletics & Recreation announced today that Morgan McHaffie has been named the 18th head coach of the Queen's Women's Hockey program.

McHaffie (B.PhE '14) will assume the role of head coach after serving the program as an assistant coach for the past seven seasons, beginning in the 2014-15 OUA Women's Hockey season. 

"I am thrilled to have Morgan join Queen's Athletics & Recreation as our new Women's Hockey Head Coach," said Linda Melnick, Executive Director, Queen's Athletics & Recreation. "Her commitment to cultivate an environment that enables student-athletes to excel is paired with an approach that both draws from and builds on her own experience as a former Gael who competed for Queen's at the highest levels.  In the role of Head Coach, Morgan will broaden the scope of her coaching career and shape the next chapter of this storied program."

Prior to joining the program as an assistant coach, McHaffie was a member of the Gaels for five seasons as a student-athlete, capturing two OUA Championships and a CIS bronze medal for Queen's.

On March 3, 2011, in an OUA postseason game against the Guelph Gryphons, McHaffie ended the longest collegiate hockey game on record, scoring in the sixth overtime period. The game lasted 167 minutes and 14 seconds.

McHaffie was the OUA's top scorer and named the League's Most Valuable Player in 2011-12. She was named an OUA All-Rookie in her first season as a Gael and named an OUA All-Star in the remaining 4 years that she played. In 2012-13, she received national recognition as a Second Team All-Canadian. At the 77th annual Queen's Athletics & Recreation Colour Awards, she was awarded the 2012-13 Outstanding Performance of the Year (OPY).

She is the second-highest point-getter in Queen's Women's Hockey history and OUA history with 70 goals and 83 assists for 153 points across 128 regular season games played.

Internationally, McHaffie represented Canada at two FISU Winter Universiades (2013, 2015), serving as an assistant captain both years capturing a gold medal in Italy during the 2013 games, and a silver medal in Spain at the 2015 games.

"I am absolutely thrilled and deeply honoured for the opportunity to take over the helm as head coach of this remarkable and historic program. Here at Queen's we have such a rich hockey history and it's been a tremendous privilege being a part of the program for 12 years as both as a player and as a coach," said McHaffie. "The foundation, culture and legacy that Matt Holmberg has cultivated over his tenure with the program has been truly extraordinary and I look forward to picking up and carrying the torch forward, striving to new heights of excellence both on and off the ice with our exceptional athletes."

McHaffie has over 15 years of teaching and instructional experience at various levels of hockey competition. She has been involved and coaching within the Kingston Ice Wolves (GKGHA) association since 2012, most recently working as an assistant coach with the U18AA team. She has also played an integral part in revamping and improving the GKGHA IP Fundamentals program as a Lead Instructor from 2016-2018. Morgan has also taken part in several Coaching Mentorship programs through the Coaching Association of Canada.

In addition to her coaching roles and other commitments McHaffie has been working full time with Empire Life in Kingston, most recently as Senior Technical Lead, Underwriting, Business Intelligence & Analytics since graduating from Queen's.

McHaffie will begin her new position on September 25, 2023.