Rangers trainer chosen for world junior squad
Dan Lebold joins squad heading for world juniors in B.C.
KITCHENER — Dan Lebold thought it was a routine call.
The Kitchener Rangers head trainer figured Hockey Canada wanted to ask him about some players taking part in the under-18 summer camp.
So the Stratford native finished running a few errands before phoning the outfit back last week.
That’s when he got the news — Team Canada wanted the longtime Rangers staffer to be one of two equipment managers for this year’s world junior hockey championship in Vancouver and Victoria in December.
“I might have dropped the phone,” said Lebold, who was officially announced as part of the Canadian contingent Tuesday. “I certainly turned pale.”
It will be Lebold’s fourth tour with the national junior hockey team. He also worked the bench with the gold medal winning crew in 1997 while collecting silver with the squad in 2010 and ’11.
The experience never gets old, which is why he was quick to accept.
“It caught me by surprise,” said Lebold. “But after all these years it’s an honour to go again.”
Support staff usually apply for the gig, or at least did the other three times Lebold took part. But that wasn’t the case this time around.
Lebold will share equipment manager duties with peer and pal Brian St-Louis of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Both will serve alongside head coach Tim Hunter, who was an assistant bench boss the past two years.
And the work had already begun.
Lebold has connected with several players invited to the team’s tryout in Kamloops, B.C., later this month, in order to prepare for the weeklong gathering.
“You get pretty excited when you hear the kids and their enthusiasm,” he said. “It’s pretty contagious.”
Lebold will miss about a month during the OHL season but the Rangers are fully supportive since it’s such a rare opportunity.
Canada heads to this year’s tournament as the defending champions. And, having been apart of three medal winning teams, Lebold knows the recipe for success.
“You have to be unselfish,” he said.
“Almost every one of these guys wears a letter on their club team but when they get there they’re all the same.
“You have to learn quickly to check your ego at the door and work together.”
That goes right down the bench, from players to coaches to support staff.
Lebold has his three medals proudly displayed in cases at home. And he hopes to add a fourth.
“I thought I might bring my gold medal to Vancouver as a good-luck charm,” he said. “Pack the passport, socks, underwear and the gold medal.”