Tourigny to coach Canada at IIHF Worlds
Published
Arizona Coyotoes head coach Andre Tourigny will once again be behind the bench for Canada at the 2023 IIHF World Hockey Championship, but this time as head coach.
Hockey Canada announced its coaching team on Friday for the tournament that is set to begin on May 12 in Latvia and Finland.
Joining Tourigny as assistants as the also returning DJ Smith, the head coach of the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings assistant coach Alex Tanguay and Canada's women's head coach Troy Ryan.
“We are excited to unveil the experienced coaching staff that will lead Canada’s National Men’s Team at the IIHF World Championship this year,” Team Canada general manager Doug Armstrong said in a statement. “This group brings many years of experience at the NHL, CHL, Olympic and world championship levels, and we know they will provide great leadership as we look to compete for a gold medal in Riga and Tampere next month.”
Tourigny, 48, has extensive experience coaching at a number of levels within the Hockey Canada setup and previously served as head coach of Canada's World Juniors entry in 2021. He just completed his second season as bench boss of the Coyotes.
The Sens head coach for the past four seasons, this will be Smith's third stint with Canada after last year at the worlds and as an assistant of the U-18 team at the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup.
A World Juniors participant as a player in 1999, this will be Tanguay's first coaching position for Canada. He spent 16 seasons in the NHL and appeared in 1,088 games with the Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning and Coyotes. He was a Stanley Cup winner with the Avalanche in 2001.
Ryan becomes the first person to serve on both the men's and women's coaching staffs at Hockey Canada. He is currently guiding Canada at the women's worlds where the team has reached the semi-final stage in Brampton, Ont. Now in his fourth season in the role, Ryan has led Canada to back-to-back golds at the worlds in 2021 and 2022, as well as the gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Canada finds itself in a group alongside Slovenia, Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Norway, Czechia and the host Latvians, against home Canada opens its tournament on May 12.