WHEATMAN
05-26-2006, 02:30 PM
Canadian Press
5/26/2006 1:10:41 PM
Former NHL head coach Craig Hartsburg was chosen Friday to lead Canada's 2007 entry at the world junior hockey championship.
Hartsburg, an assistant coach with last year's gold medal-winning junior team, has spent the last two seasons as head coach of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League. Prior to that, Hartsburg served as head coach with the Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Mighty Ducks, and as an assistant in Philadelphia and Minnesota.
"It's a great honour," Hartsburg said in a phone interview from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. "To me, there's no bigger thrill than to be able to represent Canada at the highest level. I'm excited about the challenge."
Hartsburg, 46, replaces Brent Sutter, who left the national team to devote more time to his role as owner, general manager and coach of the Western Hockey League's Red Deer Rebels. Sutter led the world juniors to back-to-back gold medals, racking up a 12-0 record in his two years at the helm.
Hartsburg, who was named top defenceman at the 1978 world junior championship, is aware of his responsibility to keep Canada's world junior team on top.
"We expect to keep it going," said Hartsburg. "That's a part of Canadian hockey. We expect to be the best and the challenge for us is to stay the best."
Hartsburg doesn't intend to stray from the brand of hockey employed by Sutter - and with good reason.
"I think every new coach has a different personality, but the program is exactly where I want it to be," said Hartsburg. "This is Canadian hockey - we want to play with a high level of skill, speed and character. We may change a few things here and there, but we want to play the way we played last year."
Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson said selecting Hartsburg as head coach was an easy decision.
"When we finished the interviews, we certainly felt that Craig was the guy," Nicholson said in a phone interview from Toronto. "He has the technical knowledge, and he's done very well as a coach both in the Ontario Hockey League and the National Hockey League."
Clement Jodoin and Curtis Hunt were named assistant coaches for the junior team, which will begin defence of its title Dec. 26 in Sweden. Jodoin, head coach of the QMJHL's Lewiston Maineiacs, served as an assistant for the 2006 team. Hunt will be making his first appearance with the national junior team after spending the past two seasons as head coach of the WHL's Regina Pats.
"We got to this group fairly quickly," said Nicholson. "That's a great sign. It shows how everyone is so confident in all three of them."
Nicholson said the decision to hire coaches from each of Canada's three major junior leagues wasn't intentional.
"We certainly talk about that, but we have to get three coaches that make up the best coaching staff," said Nicholson. "It just happened that there was one from each league, which makes it that much stronger."
5/26/2006 1:10:41 PM
Former NHL head coach Craig Hartsburg was chosen Friday to lead Canada's 2007 entry at the world junior hockey championship.
Hartsburg, an assistant coach with last year's gold medal-winning junior team, has spent the last two seasons as head coach of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League. Prior to that, Hartsburg served as head coach with the Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Mighty Ducks, and as an assistant in Philadelphia and Minnesota.
"It's a great honour," Hartsburg said in a phone interview from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. "To me, there's no bigger thrill than to be able to represent Canada at the highest level. I'm excited about the challenge."
Hartsburg, 46, replaces Brent Sutter, who left the national team to devote more time to his role as owner, general manager and coach of the Western Hockey League's Red Deer Rebels. Sutter led the world juniors to back-to-back gold medals, racking up a 12-0 record in his two years at the helm.
Hartsburg, who was named top defenceman at the 1978 world junior championship, is aware of his responsibility to keep Canada's world junior team on top.
"We expect to keep it going," said Hartsburg. "That's a part of Canadian hockey. We expect to be the best and the challenge for us is to stay the best."
Hartsburg doesn't intend to stray from the brand of hockey employed by Sutter - and with good reason.
"I think every new coach has a different personality, but the program is exactly where I want it to be," said Hartsburg. "This is Canadian hockey - we want to play with a high level of skill, speed and character. We may change a few things here and there, but we want to play the way we played last year."
Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson said selecting Hartsburg as head coach was an easy decision.
"When we finished the interviews, we certainly felt that Craig was the guy," Nicholson said in a phone interview from Toronto. "He has the technical knowledge, and he's done very well as a coach both in the Ontario Hockey League and the National Hockey League."
Clement Jodoin and Curtis Hunt were named assistant coaches for the junior team, which will begin defence of its title Dec. 26 in Sweden. Jodoin, head coach of the QMJHL's Lewiston Maineiacs, served as an assistant for the 2006 team. Hunt will be making his first appearance with the national junior team after spending the past two seasons as head coach of the WHL's Regina Pats.
"We got to this group fairly quickly," said Nicholson. "That's a great sign. It shows how everyone is so confident in all three of them."
Nicholson said the decision to hire coaches from each of Canada's three major junior leagues wasn't intentional.
"We certainly talk about that, but we have to get three coaches that make up the best coaching staff," said Nicholson. "It just happened that there was one from each league, which makes it that much stronger."