
Alan Millar Named General Manager of Hockey Canada's Program of Excellence
June 24, 2025 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Regina Pats News Release
CALGARY, Alberta - Hockey Canada has announced that Alan Millar (Tottenham, ON) will serve as the first full-time general manager of Canada's Program of Excellence.
Millar returns to Hockey Canada after spending three years as director of player personnel with the POE from 2021-24, winning two IIHF World Junior Championship gold medals (2022, 2023) and two Hlinka Gretzky Cup gold medals (2022, 2023). He also won gold at the 2021 IIHF U18 World Championship as director of player personnel, and at the 2021 Hlinka Gretzky Cup as general manager.
In his new role, Millar will serve as general manager of Canada's National Junior Team, and Canada's National Men's Under-18 Team at both the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and IIHF U18 Men's World Championship. He will also oversee the national under-17 program and ensure the long-term sustainability of the Program of Excellence.
"We are excited to have a dedicated, full-time general manager to oversee Hockey Canada's Program of Excellence, and after an open and extensive search process, we are confident Alan is the right person to lead it," said Scott Salmond (Creston, BC), senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations. "He has spent a large portion of his career working alongside Hockey Canada in various roles and has helped build several world championship-winning teams. His experience in the AHL and CHL, along with his familiarity of our staff and programs, will be extremely helpful as he begins this new role."
Millar has spent the last two seasons (2023-25) as vice-president of hockey operations and general manager of the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Prior to his first stint with Hockey Canada, he served as general manager of the WHL's Moose Jaw Warriors for nine seasons (2012-21). He also had a two-year stint as director of hockey operations (2010-12) and served five seasons as general manager of the Sarnia Sting (2004-09) of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Millar also served as director of operations for Team Ontario at the 2004 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, helping the team to a gold medal. He spent the 2003-04 season with the OHL's Toronto St. Michael's Majors as director of player personnel and was general manager and alternate governor of the OHL's Guelph Storm for six seasons (1997-2003), winning an OHL championship in 1998. Millar also served as director of operations and alternate governor with the Saint John Flames of the American Hockey League (AHL) for four seasons (1993-97).
"I am truly honoured to return to Hockey Canada as the general manager of the Program of Excellence," said Millar. "It is a privilege to represent Canada on the world stage, and I have been fortunate to have had a number of opportunities to do just that. I am excited to work with the leadership and staff to build on the recent successes at the U17 and U18 levels, and bring our National Junior Team back to the podium. I look forward to the challenge of evaluating the best players in the country and building teams that will compete for gold. I'd like to thank Scott Salmond, Katherine Henderson and the Hockey Canada leadership team for this special opportunity."
Additions to the Program of Excellence management group, as well as the coaching staffs, support staffs and rosters for the under-17, under-18 and under-20 programs will be announced in the coming weeks.
For more information on Hockey Canada and the Program of Excellence, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow through social media on Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok.
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