Staff named for 2023 Canadian National Men’s Under-18 Team
Hockey Canada has announced the staff members that will lead Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team at the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship, April 20-30 in Basel and Porrentruy, Switzerland.
Head coach Jeff Truitt (Rosetown, Sask./Prince Albert, WHL) will be joined by assistant coaches John Dean (Don Mills, Ont./Sault Ste. Marie, OHL) and Bruce Richardson (Montreal, Que./Blainville-Boisbriand, QMJHL), as well as goaltending consultant Justin Pogge (Penticton, B.C./Wolfsburg, DEL).
The coaching staff was selected by Alan Millar (Tottenham, Ont.), director of player personnel, and Benoit Roy (Sudbury, Ont.), senior manager of hockey operations.
“We are very excited to unveil our coaching and support staff for the upcoming world championship, as we believe this group provides important experience from the Canadian Hockey League and internationally,” Millar said. “Jeff, John, Bruce and Justin are thrilled to represent Canada and lead our team, and we know the athletes will benefit greatly from their leadership as we compete for a gold medal in Switzerland.”
Richardson returns to the international stage for the third time, and second as an assistant coach. Most recently, he was the head coach of Team Canada White at the 2022 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and was an assistant with Team Canada Black at the 2014 edition of the event. He recently completed his fifth season (2018-23) as head coach of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Prior to joining the Armada, he was head coach of the Châteauguay Grenadiers (2011-2014, 2016-2018) of the Ligue de développement du hockey M18 AAA du Québec and had a two-year stint as head coach of the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres (2014-2016).
Hockey Canada also announced the support staff that will work with Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team at the event:
- Video coach Andrew Boucher (Timmins, Ont.)
- Equipment manager Ashton ‘A.J.’ Murley (St. John’s, N.L.)
- Athletic therapists Kevin Elliott (Charlottetown, P.E.I.) and Jimmy McKnight (Bradford, Ont./Edmonton, WHL)
- Team physician Dr. Michael Conrad (Vancouver, B.C./Victoria, WHL)
- Education consultant Nic Reynard (Victoria, B.C./Victoria, WHL)
- Hockey operations coordinator Cassidy Wait (North Vancouver, B.C.)
Canada opens the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship against Sweden on April 20 at 8:30 a.m. ET/5:30 a.m. PT. It will also take on Germany on April 21, Slovakia on April 23 and Czechia on April 24 to round out the preliminary round before the tournament wraps up with the bronze and gold medal games on April 30. TSN and RDS, Hockey Canada’s official broadcast partners, will broadcast select tournament games, including all Team Canada games.
Since 2002, Canada has won four gold medals at the IIHF U18 World Championship (2003, 2008, 2013, 2021), in addition to one silver (2005) and three bronze (2012, 2014, 2015).
_
(Source: Hockey Canada)
