CALGARY –
Arizona Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny will be in charge of the Canadian coaching staff at the upcoming men’s world hockey championship in Tampere, Finland and Riga, Latvia, Hockey Canada announced on Friday.
Tourigny, of Nicolet, Que., served as an assistant under Claude Julien at last year’s tournament where Team Canada dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the host Finns in the gold-medal game.
Ottawa Senators coach D.J. Smith, Detroit Red Wings assistant coach Alex Tanguay and Canadian women’s team head coach Troy Ryan will serve as assistant coaches.
Ryan is currently at the women’s world hockey championship in Brampton, Ont., ahead of a semifinal matchup against Switzerland on Saturday.
While his focus remains on the women’s team, he says he’s excited about the opportunity.
“A potential opportunity came up and (Hockey Canada) thought I’d be a good fit for it,” he said. “I think it would be a great experience and (I’m) hoping to contribute the same way I try to contribute with (the women’s program) and help Canada win a gold medal in the men’s worlds.”
Ryan says he takes each coaching opportunity as “the most amazing thing at that time” instead of looking at things as steps or stages in his career.
“When I’m with the men’s world staff, that will be the most important thing for me at that time. Just like right now, this world championship is the most important thing for me in my career,” he said.
“I’ve never looked at any of it as like steps or stages, I just try to do the best thing I can for that program at that given time.”
Doug Armstrong, general manager of the St. Louis Blues, is the men’s team’s GM.
Team Canada will hold a five-day training camp in Budapest, Hungary starting May 5 before opening the tournament on May 12 against the host Latvians.
Canada will also take on Slovenia, Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Norway and Czechia in the preliminary round before the tournament concludes with the medal games on May 28.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 14, 2023.
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