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Doan named as GM, Julien as head coach for Canada’s Olympic men’s hockey team

Jan 14, 2022 | 10:17 AM

CALGARY — Hockey Canada has confirmed Shane Doan as the general manager of Canada’s men’s hockey team at the Beijing Olympics, while Claude Julien has been named head coach.

Hockey Canada announced its management team today with the opening ceremony at the 2022 Winter Games three weeks away.

Doan and Julien replace St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong and Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper, who vacated their positions on the national team when the NHL pulled out of an agreement to send its players to the Olympics last month.

Doan and Julien were widely expected to take up the team’s leadership in the event of a second straight Olympics without NHL players when they were named GM and coach of Canada’s team at the Channel One Cup in Russia and the Spengler Cup in Switzerland.

The international events were considered a contingency plan to evaluate European-based Canadian talent should the NHL deal fall through. Canada finished third at the Channel One Cup, while the Spengler Cup was cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns.

Scott Salmond and Blair Mackasey will join Doan’s front-office staff, while Nolan Baumgartner, Jeremy Colliton and Tyler Dietrich will be Julien’s assistants behind the bench.

Julien owns a 667-445-162 coaching record in 1,274 regular-season NHL games with the Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins.

The Ottawa native, who won the Stanley Cup with Boston in 2011, was fired from his second stint with the Canadiens in February.

Doan won gold with Canada at the 2021 world championships as assistant GM. As a player, he represented Canada at six world championships — winning gold three times — and also competed at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and 2006 Olympics.

He is currently the Arizona Coyotes’ hockey development officer.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 14, 2022.

The Canadian Press