Gilles Bouchard named Assistant Coach for Canada at next World Juniors

Oct132023

Gilles Bouchard named Assistant Coach for Canada at next World Juniors

By David Brien October 13, 2023

With less than three months until the puck drops on the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, Hockey Canada has named the staff that will lead Canada’s National Junior Team in its gold medal defence in Gothenburg, Sweden.

After helping Canada win gold at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship as an assistant coach, Alan Letang (Renfrew, ON/Sarnia, OHL) returns to take the reins as head coach. He will be joined by assistant coaches Gilles Bouchard (Normandin, QC/Sherbrooke, QMJHL), Shaun Clouston (Viking, AB/Kamloops, WHL) and Scott Walker (Cambridge, ON/Guelph, OHL), as well as goaltending consultant Justin Pogge (Penticton, BC) and video coach James Emery (Calgary, AB).

In addition, three-time Stanley Cup champion and Olympic gold medallist Brent Seabrook (Tsawwassen, BC) will serve as a member of the management group alongside Peter Anholt (Naicam, SK/Lethbridge, WHL), the U20 lead for the Program of Excellence management group. Anholt helped select the staff alongside Benoit Roy (Sudbury, ON), senior manager of hockey operations.

Bouchard has represented Canada three times at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge (2014, 2015, 2018), winning a silver medal as the head coach of Team Canada Red in 2018 and gold as an assistant with Team Canada White in 2015. He is currently in his first year as head coach of the Sherbrooke Phoenix of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) after five years (2018-23) as an assistant with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League (AHL). He also served five years (2013-18) as the general manager and head coach of the QMJHL’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, leading the team to a QMJHL championship in 2016.

The support staff that will work with Canada’s National Junior Team at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship includes:

Athletic therapists Kevin Elliott (Charlottetown, PE) and Andy Brown (Owen Sound, ON/Owen Sound, OHL)
Team physician Dr. R.J. MacKenzie (Albert Bridge, NS/Cape Breton, QMJHL)
Equipment managers Chris Cook (Ottawa, ON/Brantford, OHL) and Tyler Jay (Charlottetown, PE/Saint John, QMJHL)
Strength and conditioning coach Sean Young (Ennismore, ON/Ottawa, OHL)
Mental performance consultant Luke Madill (Kirkland, QC)
Manager of hockey operations Mitchell Furlotte (Bathurst, NB)
Media relations manager Esther Madziya (Lethbridge, AB)

Canada’s National Junior Team will gather at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville, Ontario for a four-day selection camp, Dec. 10-13, before selecting a final roster ahead of the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship. The selection camp will include a pair of games against a team of U SPORTS all-stars on Dec. 12-13.

Source : Hockey Canada