Hunter to coach Canada at WJC
CALGARY (CP) — Tim Hunter gets to coach the Canadian junior men’s hockey team in a city where he was an NHL player for several seasons.
Hunter will be behind Canada’s bench at the 2019 world junior championship in both Vancouver, where Hunter played from 1992 to 1996, and Victoria. The tournament opens Dec. 26 in both cities.
After two years as an assistant coach for Canada, the 57-year-old Calgarian will oversee a team attempting to defend the gold won at the 2018 championship in Buffalo.
“To represent your country at any time, at any level, to be the head coach, it’s a real honour,” Hunter said Tuesday on a conference call. “What I’ve learned . . . over the past two years is going to take me a long way to help me through this process.”
Hunter led the Moose Jaw Warriors to a regular-season title this past season in his fourth year coaching the WHL team.
Prior to joining the Warriors, he was an assistant coach in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks and Washington Capitals.
“Without question, the right person to lead this group and to look to defend a gold medal in Canada, in Vancouver where Tim was a player,” said Scott Salmond, Hockey Canada’s vice-president of hockey operations and national teams.
Hunter played 815 NHL games over 16 seasons with Vancouver, Calgary, Quebec and San Jose. The forward was primarily an enforcer and policeman for teams’ stars, and won a Stanley Cup in 1989 with Calgary. Canada has won gold 17 times in the 42-year history of the world men’s under-20 championship.
Marc-Andre Dumont of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, Jim Hulton of the Charlottetown Islanders and Brent Kisio of the Lethbridge Hurricanes round out Hunter’s coaching staff.
Canada will play its Pool A preliminary-round games at Rogers Arena in Vancouver and remain there should the host country advance to the quarterfinals and medal games.
Hunter, his assistants and Hockey Canada management will be evaluating Canadian players July 28 to Aug. 4 in Kamloops at the Sportchek World Junior Showcase featuring Canada, Finland, Sweden and the U.S.
Hunter was an assistant to Dominique Ducharme both in Buffalo and at the 2017 championship co-hosted by Montreal and Toronto. Canada took silver in a shootout loss to the U.S. in 2017.
“One of the biggest things is creating a team that has a group of players willing to play their own role and getting used to playing a role that’s different than their club teams in junior hockey,” Hunter said. “Getting them to buy in.”