After an unusual Olympic adventure, Claude Julien will return to the helm of Team Canada for the World Championships to be held in Finland in May.
This was announced by Hockey Canada on Monday. In addition, the head coach of the Arizona Coyotes, André Tourigny, and that of the Ottawa Senators, DJ Smith, will be among his assistants.
Julien quickly landed the role of maple leaf training pilot for the Beijing Olympics this winter, but an accident at a team-building event kept him from flying to China with the rest of the team. He suffered a broken rib.
Jeremy Colliton was initially supposed to replace him, but Julien managed to join the formation in time for the first game. Without the players of the National Hockey League, however, he was unable to avoid the elimination of his team in the quarter-finals against Sweden.
Julien, fired by the Montreal Canadiens last year, could find some of the team’s players. Nick Suzuki seems in particular a good candidate to represent his country at the World Cup, which will take place from May 13 to 29 in the cities of Tampere and Helsinki.
In addition, Hockey Canada has also indicated that Sean Doan will be the general manager of the maple leaf for the competition in Finland. He will be supported by former Columbus Blue Jackets star Rick Nash, as well as the vice-president of hockey operations within the Canadian organization, Scott Salmond.