St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong will lead Canada’s management team for the upcoming IIHF World Championship, taking the same role for the national program. He’ll be joined by Steve Yzerman, serving as associate GM, Shane Doan as assisting GM, and Scott Salmond as senior vice president of hockey operations. Tyler Dietrich, Jim McKenzie, Jamie Pushor, and Tim Taylor will round out the player selection committee.
Salmond released a statement:
We are excited to unveil the experienced management group and selection committee that will lead Team Canada at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, and that will help build the staff and roster that will wear the Maple Leaf in May. Doug, Steve and Shane have been successful in the NHL and at the Olympics, world championships and world cups, and Jim, Jamie and Tim bring critical NHL experience. We are fortunate to have six individuals with extensive pedigrees who are dedicated to helping us build towards our goal of winning a gold medal in Tampere and Riga.
The tournament, scheduled to begin on May 12 when Canada faces the co-hosting Latvian squad, will see a group of NHL players that failed to make the postseason (or were eliminated quickly) take part in the highest-level international tournament of the year.
While it isn’t true best-on-best, as several teams will still be chasing down the Stanley Cup, the Worlds have taken on a bigger stage since NHL players were once again held out of the Olympics. Last year, a Finnish team led by players like Mikael Granlund, Miro Heiskanen, and Joel Armia was able to defeat a Canadian squad with the likes of Mathew Barzal, Dylan Cozens, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Thomas Chabot in the gold medal match.
No Stan Bowman? WTF?
Jim McKenzie, there’s a blast from the past. Long career for a goon, and he was always good for a media quote. One of my favorite lines was from his days with the Whalers, and the team had a closed-door players-only meeting after a losing streak. Upon coming out, McKenzie was asked what was discussed, and he solemnly told the press that the players had discussed the matter thoroughly, and had concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole shooter for the Kennedy assassination.
True story. (grins)