It can be confusing. Hannah Miller was born in North Vancouver, British Columbia. She grew up playing in the province, finishing her minor hockey career with the Okanagan Hockey Academy. Miller also represented Canada at the 2013 and 2014 U-18 World Championships winning gold both years. It’s why few raised an eyebrow when Miller was named to Canada’s roster for the 2025 World Championships, her first time on Canada’s senior national team. It’s also why many were confused when Miller was later deemed ineligible to compete for Canada by the IIHF.
Why was Hannah Miller deemed ineligible?
It’s quite simple really. Following Hannah Miller’s NCAA career with St. Lawrence University, the power forward joined the CWHL with the KRS Shenzhen Vanke Rays. When the CWHL folded following that season, Miller followed the Vanke Rays back to China, playing with the team in Russia’s top league for the next four seasons. During that span, Miller acquired a dual passport allowing her to play for China at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, and to help the team win promotion from the Division 1B World Championships. She was even named Best Forward at the tournament.
Miller’s final season with Shenzhen was 2022-2023 when she captained the team. Following that season, the PWHL’s Toronto Sceptres selected Miller 74th overall in the inaugural PWHL Draft.
Upon impressing Team Canada brass in her first two seasons in the PWHL, Miller garnered enough interest to attempt to shift to represent Canada. The problem was, IIHF rules clearly state a player must have spent at least two years playing in a domestic league in their new nation prior to applying for a change in eligibility. The entire first PWHL season took place in less than six months. In total, Miller has only been in the PWHL for one year and three months. She just hasn’t met the minimum requirement yet to shift. When Miller hits the two year window, it’s anticipated she will be able to represent Canada in 2026.
Can a player really switch nations?
Yes, it happens all the time. More often than not it’s players who have not represented their nation at the senior national level. In fact, it’s become a norm for nations tasked with hosting the Olympic Games to load up their roster with dual passport players born outside their borders. For China at the 2022 Olympics and World Championships it involved players like Miller, Anna Segedi, Leah Lum, Rachel Llanes, and Camryn Wong, among several others. After China’s dual passport players helped the nation earn promotion from the Division 1B to Division 1A, and then from Division 1A to the top division in a matter of two seasons, China unceremoniously dropped all their dual passport players ahead of their first appearance in the 2024 World Championships. The result? China was immediately relegated back to Division 1A.
Italy is currently doing the same thing ahead of the 2026 Olympics in Milano Cortina. They’ll actually see a player move the opposite direction from former Team Canada standout to Italian national team player. That individual is Laura Fortino. Fortino won Olympic and World Championship gold medals with Canada representing Canada eight times at the Olympics and Worlds, and twice more at the U-18 World Championships. Fortino was a World Championship All-Star in 2012 and an Olympic All-Star in 2018.
Former PWHL player Kristin Della Rovere, who played for the Ottawa Charge in 2024, is another player Italy hopes to have on their roster for 2026, as is Canadian born Jacquie Pierri, among several others. It’s not uncommon, but given the time it takes for players to change national allegiances, it’s often impractical.
What Miller’s selection showed?
The good news for the sport however, is that Hannah Miller’s selection to Team Canada shows that the player selection pool is growing because of the PWHL. Miller has always been a player of this calibre, but Canada simply did not select players from outside the PWHPA and NCAA following 2019. Miller’s selection, as could be said about the addition of Daryl Watts, Sophie Jaques, Jennifer Gardiner, and the return of Claire Thompson and Micah Zandee-Hart to Team Canada was made possible by the PWHL pathway. Each of these players was able to show themselves capable of competing against the best in the world consistently before Canada even considered a camp.
Hannah Miller won’t be in a Team Canada jersey in 2025, but don’t rule her out for the 2026 Olympics. The IIHF does not oversea Olympic eligibility in the same way they do the World Championships. It’s likely Miller will be eligible for the Milano Cortina Games, should she maintain her play and Canada wants her. And she should be eligible to play in time for the 2026 World Championships.
