WHL Kelowna Rockets

Huska Named World Junior Assistant

Published on May 26, 2011 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


Kelowna Rockets head coach Ryan Huska has been named an assistant coach with Team Canada for the 2012 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.

Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Hockey League, announced the coaching staff that will try to lead Canada back to the gold medal. Vancouver Giants head coach Don Hay was named head coach of Canada's National Junior Team.

The 2012 World Junior Championship is scheduled for December 26, 2011 to January 5, 2012 in Calgary and Edmonton, Alta.

Joining Huska as an assistant will be George Burnett (head coach and general manager, Belleville Bulls, OHL) and Pascal Vincent (head coach and general manager, Montreal Juniors, QMJHL).

Huska, 35, will return as an assistant coach for the second year in a row, having served under Dave Cameron in 2010. Head coach of the Rockets since 2007, Huska is a veteran of seven Memorial Cups as both a player and a coach - he won championships as a player with the Kamloops Blazers in 1992, 1994 and 1995 and as an assistant coach with Kelowna in 2004, and also appeared in the tournament as Kelowna's assistant coach in 2003 and 2005 and as the team's head coach in 2009.

Hay, 57, will step behind the bench of Canada's National Junior Team for the first time since leading Canada to a gold medal and its first-ever perfect record at the 1995 IIHF World Junior Championship. One of just five WHL coaches with 500 regular season victories, Hay has won three WHL championships (1994, 1995 with Kamloops, 2006 with Vancouver) and three Memorial Cups (1994 and 1995 with Kamloops, 2007 with Vancouver) and is a two-time WHL Coach of the Year (1998-99, 2008-09). The Kamloops, B.C., native was a 2008 inductee into the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame.

"We are very excited about the staff we are naming today for Canada's National Junior Team," said Brad Pascall, vice-president of hockey operations/national teams with Hockey Canada. "All of the coaches we are naming today have previous Team Canada coaching experience, including three with World Junior experience, and we look forward to working with them on the road to Calgary and Edmonton this winter."

Scott Salmond, Hockey Canada's senior director of national teams and hockey operations, along with Hockey Canada's hockey operations department will work closely with the coaching staff in planning and executing all team logistics.

Further details regarding Canada's National Junior Team summer development camp, scheduled for August 3-7 in Edmonton, including a full practice schedule and roster, will be announced at a later date.

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