Mel was a member and a coach of Team Alberta at the Canada Winter Games in 1991, 1995 and 1999. She spent three seasons as the head coach of the women’s hockey team at Connecticut College from 1997-2000. She was also the head coach of the Cornell University women’s hockey team from 2002-2005. From 2006-2009 Mel served as the assistant coach of the Calgary Canucks in the AJHL.
Internationally, Mel has represented Canada at five Winter Olympics, three in a coaching capacity and two as a General Manager, bringing home four Olympic gold medals and one silver medal.
Mel is a certified Level 4 NCCP hockey coach and a graduate of the National Coaching Institute.
Mel is a University of Alberta graduate and received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2010. She also received the 2010 Jack Donohue Coach of the Year Award from Coaches of Canada and has won the Coaching Excellence Award from the Coaching Association of Canada multiple times. In 2017 Mel was inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame.