Burke, Brodeur, Desjardins headline management team for Canada's Olympic squad
Hockey Canada unveiled the management team Tuesday that will be tasked with building the country's Olympic roster for the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Former NHL goalie Sean Burke, currently scouting for the Montreal Canadiens, will serve as general manager, while Martin Brodeur, assistant GM of the St. Louis Blues, will be part of the management team.
Former Vancouver Canucks bench boss Willie Desjardins will coach the club.
Burke and Brodeur will work alongside Hockey Canada CEO Tom Renney, president and COO Scott Smith, and vice president of hockey operations Scott Salmond.
Filling out the rest of Desjardins' coaching staff will be assistant coaches Dave King, Scott Walker, and Craig Woodcroft.
"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 Renney. "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 Pyeongchang. 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."
In the 2018 Games, no NHL players will be loaned to their respective countries. Due to that wrinkle, Canada will compete in various tournaments starting in Russia in August in order to properly evaluate potential players.
"These first two events allow us to continue a player evaluation process that began last season with our Deutschland Cup and Spengler Cup teams," said Salmond. "We will continue to look at the best available players to us - these two tournaments being the next opportunity to see some of the talent we can select from."
Canada is looking to capture gold in men's hockey for the third straight games and the fourth time since 2002.