Andre Tourigny to coach Canada’s men’s World Hockey Championship team

Hockey Canada is bringing back some familiar faces to the men’s World Hockey Championship, with Arizona’s Andre Tourigny set to lead as the head coach.

Ottawa’s D.J. Smith, Detroit’s Alex Tanguay and women’s national team bench boss Troy Ryan will act as assistants, while James Emery will be the team’s video coach.

 “This group brings many years of experience at the NHL, CHL, Olympic and world championship levels, and we know they will provide great leadership as we look to compete for a gold medal in Riga and Tampere next month.”

Tourigny has been part of Canada’s system for a while, having first served as an assistant coach with the World Junior Championship team in 2010. His first head-coaching job was with Canada’s 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup team before assuming the role at the 2021 world juniors. That same year, Tourigny acted as an assistant with Canada’s senior team for the first time and did so again in 2022. This will mark his first time as the leading man on the men’s national team.

Tourigny finished his second season with the Coyotes, missing the season both years as the club continues to rebuild.

Smith recently completed his fourth year as coach of the Ottawa Senators. Smith’s first taste of Team Canada came as an assistant on the championship-winning Hlinka Gretzky team in 2013. He was also Canada’s assistant last year when the team lost to Finland in the championship game.

Tanguay has never coached with Team Canada in the past, but the Red Wings’ assistant is the only one of the bunch to have played for the country. The former Colorado Avalanche star had three points at the 1998 World Junior Championship team just a year before turning pro. After retiring from the NHL in 2016, Tanguay spent two years working with the Iowa Wild before joining the Red Wings in 2021-22.

Ryan will be making his men’s national team debut after spending the past seven years as coach of the women’s team. He has two World Championships and one Olympic gold to his credit, with various other medals at different levels. He is currently leading Canada at the women’s World Championship in Brampton, with the team advancing to the semifinal on Saturday.

Canada previously announced Doug Armstrong as Canada’s GM for the World Championship and will be joined by Steve Yzerman and Shane Doan.

The Canadians will open the tournament up on May 12 against the hosts from Latvia before taking on Slovenia, Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Norway and Czechia in the preliminary round. The championship game will take place May 28, with Canada looking to win the title for the second time in three years.