CALGARY – Mike Babcock, Head Coach of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Tom Renney, Interim Head Coach and VP of Player Development of the New York Rangers, have been named Team Canada’s assistant coaches for the 2004 IIHF Men’s World Hockey Championship, Team Canada’s General Manager Jim Nill announced on Monday.

Babcock and Renney will work with Team Canada’s World Championship Head Coach Joel Quenneville, who was named on by GM Nill and Team Canada’s Management staff for the 2004 Men’s World Championship: Don Maloney, Assistant General Manager and Lanny McDonald, Director, Player Personnel.

The 2004 IIHF World Hockey Championship will take place April 24- in Prague, Czech Republic. Canada’s first game will be on versus Austria, and will begin play in Group D against Austria, France and Switzerland. TSN/RDS, the official broadcaster of Hockey Canada will be covering Team Canada’s games LIVE from the Czech Republic (check local listings).

“We are very pleased to name Mike and Tom to Team Canada’s coaching staff, as they both bring tremendous experience to our team,“ said Nill. “They both bring previous international experience and we are confident that we have chosen an excellent coaching staff for this year’s World Championship in Prague.”

Mike Babcock is in his second season as head coach of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim In his first season as an NHL head coach, Babcock led the Ducks to their first ever Stanley Cup Finals appearance.

Babcock was Head Coach of Canada’s World Junior Team in 1997, leading the team to a gold medal. Prior to joining the Mighty Ducks, Babcock had a successful six-year run as the head coach of the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He was twice named WHL Coach of the Year (1996 & 2000) after taking the franchise to the league finals both seasons.

Renney served as Head Coach of Team Canada at the 1994 Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway (winning a silver medal) and has been Team Canada’s Head Coach at the Men’s World Hockey Championship three times (1995 – bronze; 1996 – silver; 2000 – 4th place) and was an Assistant Coach twice, winning gold in 1994 and finishing 4th in 1993.

Prior to joining the Rangers, Renney served as Hockey Canada’s Vice President, Hockey and Head Coach of the Canadian National Team. During the 1999-2000 season, he guided the team to a 27-23-6 record in 56 international contests, capturing the 2000 Nagano Cup and placing third in the 2000 Spengler Cup.

Renney is currently in his fourth season with the Rangers, his second as Vice President of Player Development. He began the 2003-2004 season as an Assistant Coach, and was named interim Head Coach of the Rangers on Feb.. Renney served as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks from June, 1996 through November, 1997.

Team Canada’s coaching and management staff will be working very closely with Team Canada’s World Cup of Hockey 2004 Management staff, consisting of Executive Director Wayne Gretzky, Assistant Executive Director Kevin Lowe and Director, Player Personnel Steve Tambellini in the scouting and naming of players to Canada’s World Championship team.

Nill and Team Canada’s management staff also announced Team Canada’s support staff for the 2004 IIHF Worlds: