Curtis Hunt named Asst. Coach for 2007 Nat. Junior team

[Some_Arrogant_Jerk]

Hockey Canada and the CHL announced on Friday the appointments of Clément Jodoin and Curtis Hunt as assistant coaches of Canada’s 2007 National Junior Team. Jodoin, a native of St-Cesaire, QC, was an assistant coach along with Hartsburg at the 2006 IIHF World Junior Championship in Vancouver, BC and has just completed his second season as head coach of the QMJHL’s Lewiston MAINEiacs. Jodoin was an assistant coach with the Montreal Canadiens for four seasons and for one season with Pittsburgh.

Hunt, a native of North Battleford, SK, recently completed his second season as head coach of the WHL’s Regina Pats and will be joining Canada’s National Junior Team coaching staff for the first time, having previously been an assistant coach with Canada’s 2005 gold medal winning Summer Under-18 Team (August) and Canada’s 2005 World Under-18 Championship team (April) which won a silver medal


(100th post!)

[nivek_wahs]

from reginapats.com via the LeaderPost
Hunt gets posting

Greg Harder, The Leader-Post; Canadian Press
Published: Saturday, May 27, 2006

When his country calls, Curtis Hunt always answers.

For the third time in a little over a year, the head coach of the WHL's Regina Pats has been offered a high-profile international posting with Hockey Canada.

After two turns as an assistant with the under-18 program last year, Hunt is joining the big boys as a member of Craig Hartsburg's staff with the national under-20 team. The Canadian squad will be looking to capture its third straight gold medal at the upcoming world junior championship, which is taking place in Sweden.

"I got the call (Friday) morning at 8:30 ... and I was actually speechless," offered Hunt, who interviewed for the job on Wednesday during the Memorial Cup in Moncton. "When you first get into coaching ... you wonder in the back of your mind if you'll ever get that opportunity. You see the names of the guys (who've done it before) and I've coached against some of them. You start to think, 'I can do this.' "

Hockey Canada selected an experienced staff led by Hartsburg, the head coach of the OHL's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. The former NHL bench boss was an assistant to Brent Sutter with last year's Canadian squad, which won gold in Vancouver.

Hartsburg's other assistant was also one of Sutter's lieutenants from last year, Clement Jodoin of the QMJHL's Lewiston Maineiacs.

"We got to this group fairly quickly," said Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson. "That's a great sign. It shows how everyone is so confident in all three of them."

Hunt got his first taste of the international game last spring in helping guide Canada to a silver medal at the world under-18 championship in the Czech Republic. He followed up that experience in August with a gold medal at the Junior World Cup in Slovakia.

If all goes well this time around, Hunt will likely find himself in line for the top job somewhere down the road.

"My perspective is, I don't necessarily have to be the head coach," noted the Regina native. "At some point in time that would be great but I'm just honoured to be part of it. Hopefully I can contribute to the plan that Craig Hartsburg has and provide him with the kind of support he needs. Here's a guy with NHL experience, a gold medal last year. To me it's just another book of knowledge that hopefully I can draw from. Certainly it will help me in my career and hopefully be able to bring some things home that will help our club in Regina."

Hartsburg, Hunt and Jodoin face a daunting task in following up back-to-back gold medals under the guidance of Sutter, who turned down an offer to go for the threepeat.

Hartsburg, who was the obvious heir apparent, hopes to pick up where Sutter left off.

"I think every new coach has a different personality, but the program is exactly where I want it to be," Hartsburg said. "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."

Hopefully with the same result.

"I think that's the only way to go," added Hunt. "From the moment we sit down, even today talking to Craig and Bob Nicholson, our thought process is what we need to do to get gold. I think that's good pressure. I always think of pressure as not something you put on yourself but something we can apply to other teams in the style we will play."