The Calgary Inferno held its final scrimmage here last night against the AC Avalanche in preparation for their opening weekend in the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL).

The professional women's team had its full roster on the ice for the first time, and new head coach Shannon Miller was impressed with what she saw.

"We've been working hard for three weeks but our team is a little disjointed with players arriving from different cities and countries," explains Miller. "So this morning (Oct 11)  was our very first full one-hour practice together and tonight was a game simulation. I was very pleased with what I saw. Really quick speed, quick puck movement, using the ice, using everybody and they were having fun playing."

"It's a good sign. It just shows you we have really good chemistry. We're getting along together off the ice, we're having fun and when you have that off the ice it definitely transfers on to the ice."

Canadian Olympian Brianne Jenner is expecting the competition to be stiff this season.

The Inferno continues to attract an elite group of players and includes an all-star lineup of nine Olympians, including Brianne Jenner, who was alternate captain in Team Canada's silver medal performance at the 2018  PyeongChang Olympics.

It's a small league of high-calibre players and Jenner is expecting stiff competition game in, game out.

"You've got to be pretty good to crack a roster in this league. Markham's defending and I'm sure they're going to be strong and Montreal's has always been our rival so those two are top teams. Toronto has some good players, too, so I think it's going to be a pretty tight all-around league."

The Inferno open their season in Montreal and some have already handed Les Canadiennes the cup before the season opens. Not so quick, says Miller.

"A lot of people think Montreal should be ranked number one this year on paper. Fortunately, we don't play the game on paper and I think it's going to be a lot of fun and two close, very competitive games."

The season marks her return to coaching since leaving the University of Minnesota Duluth four seasons ago. There she coached Bulldogs to an unprecedented five NCAA national championships in her 16 years behind the bench.

"I'm excited to be back being coaching hockey and to be able to coach in Calgary is a real honour. I have family and many friends here, so it means a lot to me."

Her brother and his family reside in Cochrane and she's a frequent visitor to the community.

Miller was a police officer in Calgary for almost 10 years and was one of the founders of Calgary's first female minor hockey team and also coached junior and senior women’s hockey in the city.  She started the Olympic Oval Women’s Hockey High-Performance training program and was the assistant coach of the gold medal-winning Team Alberta at the 1991 Canada Winter Games. Miller also resided in Calgary while she coached with Team Canada from 1991-1998, winning three World Championships and Olympic silver.

The six teams forming the CWHL will be challenging for the Clarkson Cup. The Inferno will be facing off against Toronto Furies, Les Canadiennes Montreal, Markham Thunder, Worcester (Boston) Blades and Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays (China). 

Cochrane will be hosting a matchup between the Infernos and the defending champion Thunder on Dec. 2 at the Cochrane Arena.