CALGARY – Claude Julien will be the head coach of Canada’s men’s hockey team at the Beijing Olympics.
Hockey Canada officials made the announcement in a press release Friday morning, less than a month before the opening ceremony of the Games.
Nolan Baumgartner, Jeremy Colliton and Tyler Dietrich will serve as the former Montreal Canadiens driver’s assistants.
Shane Doan will be the general manager. He will be supported by Scott Salmond, senior vice-president of hockey operations at Hockey Canada and assistant general manager, and by Quebecer Blair Mackasey, director of player personnel.
Julien and Doan will replace Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Doug Armstrong of the St. Louis Blues, who gave up their duties with the Canadian team when the National Hockey League decided last month not to not send its players to Beijing.
Julien and Doan recently worked together and held identical roles during the Channel One Cup, an event held in Russia a few days before Christmas.
Julien, on the other hand, was behind the bench for Team Canada as an assistant coach at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, where he helped Canada win the championship. He won Olympic gold in an assistant coaching role in 2014, and was twice an assistant coach with Canada’s National Junior Team at the 1999 and 2000 IIHF World Junior Championships. winning silver in 1999 and bronze in 2000.
In the NHL, Julien also served as head coach with the New Jersey Devils and the Boston Bruins. With the Bruins, he won the Stanley Cup in 2011 and the Jack Adams Trophy, awarded to the coach of the year in the NHL in 2008-2009.
“We are pleased to announce a management group and coaching staff comprised of experienced individuals who will lead Canada’s Men’s Olympic Team into the 2022 Olympic Games,” commented Hockey Canada CEO Tom Renney. .
“With less than a month to go before the Olympics Men’s Hockey Tournament, we are excited to continue our work with all of the staff as they prepare to represent Canada and build a team that Canadians can support in his quest for Olympic gold.”
According to Scott Salmond, Hockey Canada will reveal the identity of the players who will make up the Canadian team in the coming weeks.
Canada will open the Beijing Games against Germany on February 10. He will also face the United States and China in the preliminary round. The tournament will conclude on February 20 with the medal games.