| Advertisement |
Willie Desjardins, who was recently fired by the Vancouver Canucks, will be the head coach of Team Canada at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, Hockey Canada announced Tuesday. The organization also announced that Sean Burke will be the general manager, and Martin Brodeur will be a member of the management group for the team.
Advertisement
Assistant coaches under Desjardins will be former Team Canada head coach Dave King, Scott Walker and Craig Woodcroft.
The Olympics will be held Feb. 9-25. Canada won the gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Mike Babcock, who is the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, coached both of those teams.
The 60-year-old Desjardins was coach of the Vancouver Canucks from 2014-17. He coached Canada to a silver medal at the 2010 World Junior Championship.
Burke is a professional scout for the Montreal Canadiens, and he played for Canada at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics.
Brodeur, an assistant general manager with the St. Louis Blues, helped Canada win gold at the 2002 Olympics and again in 2010.
"This is an exciting time for Hockey Canada and for our National Men's Team program, and it will be an exciting season for Canadian hockey fans," said Tom Renney, Hockey Canada's CEO. "The goal is always to field the best possible team in all upcoming competitions, including this February when we hit the world's biggest sporting stage in Pyeonchang.
"The faces on our Team Canada rosters may be different than in previous years, but the expectations will be the same; with the addition of Sean, Martin, Willie, Dave, Scott, and Craig, we have assembled some of the best hockey minds out there to help us meet those expectations of on-ice success."
