According to the Maple Leafs Association’s announcement, the Arizona Coyotes’ NHL head coach, Andre Tureny, will be the captain of the national team. Last year, when Canada won the silver medal, the specialist was the second coach of the national team.
His three assistants will be DJ Smith (Ottawa Senators), Alex Tanguay (Detroit Red Wings) and Troy Ryan. As a player, Tanguay played in 1,088 NHL games with the Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Arizona, scoring 863 points, and was a member of Colorado’s Stanley Cup-winning team in 2001.
General Manager Doug Armstrong (St. Louis Blues), Assistant General Manager Steve Yzerman (Detroit) and Shane Doan (Arizona) decided to make the professional staff. Of the three leaders, Yzerman is the most successful as a player, winning an Olympics (2002), a Stanley Cup (1997, 1998, 2002), an All-Star selection nine times, 1,755 (692 goals, 1,063 assists) in 1,514 Game in the National Hockey League, 196 games in the playoffs, collecting 185 points (70, 115).
“We are excited to introduce the expert coaching staff who will lead the Canadian men’s national team to this year’s World Championships,” Armstrong said. “This coaching group has many years of experience in the NHL at junior, Olympic and world championship levels, and we know they will provide great leadership as we compete for gold medals in Riga and Tampere next month.”
Before the World Cup, the Canadian national team will hold a training camp at the MVM Dome in Budapest between May 5 and 9, and on the last day they will play against the Hungarian national team.
Canada is interested in the Riga group in the World Cup, which will last until May 29, when it will meet with the host country Latvia, along with the Slovenian, Slovak, Kazakh, Swiss, Norwegian and Czech teams.
The Hungarians will compete against Denmark, the United States, France, Sweden, Finland, Germany and Austria in Tampere at the World Cup.
(MTI)
