CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada has tapped into some of the best hockey minds to lead Team Canada as it seeks to defend its gold medal at the 2016 IIHF World Championship.
George McPhee (Guelph, Ont./New York Islanders, NHL) returns to Team Canada’s management group for the second consecutive year, this time as
co-general manager – duties he will share with Brad Treliving (Penticton, B.C./Calgary, NHL). Doug Armstrong (Sarnia, Ont./St. Louis, NHL) joins as senior
advisor, while Scott Salmond (Creston, B.C.), Hockey Canada’s vice-president of hockey operations and national teams, rounds out the management group.
“Our management group brings together a breadth of NHL and international experience that will benefit us at both men’s worlds and the upcoming World Cup of
Hockey,” said Tom Renney, president and chief executive officer, Hockey Canada. Renney joined Armstrong earlier this month to announce the first players
selected to represent Canada at the World Cup of Hockey in Toronto in September, at which time they identified that the final player selections would be
based on the remaining NHL season and playoffs, as well as player performances at the IIHF World Championship. “It was important for us to be able to have
a strong management group focused on men’s worlds who could also support the crossover needs we have with the members of our World Cup group.
“With George returning from last year’s world championship team to share responsibilities for this year’s team with Brad, and the crossover with Doug and
Scott, we feel we have the right resources in place to accomplish all that we have set out for ourselves over the course of the championship.”
George McPhee
was named special advisor to the general manager of the New York Islanders in September 2015. Prior to that, McPhee spent 17 seasons as general manager of
the Washington Capitals, leading the team to the Presidents’ Trophy during the 2009-10 season, seven division championships, and the team’s first berth in
the Stanley Cup Final in 1998. He was also vice-president and director of hockey operations with the Vancouver Canucks from 1992 to 1997. As a player,
McPhee won the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in NCAA hockey in 1982, and played 115 NHL games with the New York Rangers and New Jersey during an
eight-year professional career. In addition to McPhee’s role as assistant general manager at the 2015 worlds, his experience with Team Canada
includes a role as director of player personnel with the 2015 Spengler Cup-winning team.
Brad Treliving
makes his return to the Team Canada men’s worlds management group after serving as assistant general manager for the 2013-14 squad, and on the 2013
Spengler Cup management group. Treliving is in his
third season as general manager of the Calgary Flames, following seven seasons as vice-president of hockey operations and assistant general manager of the
Phoenix Coyotes. His hockey resume also includes nine seasons as general manager of the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage and three seasons with the Portland
Pirates, as well as a five-year playing career that spanned the AHL, IHL, and ECHL.
Doug Armstrong
is in his sixth season as general manager of the St. Louis Blues and has a long history with Team Canada management roles – his most recent assignment as
general manager of Canada’s World Cup of Hockey team. Armstrong served as a member of the management group at 2010 and 2014 Olympic
Winter Games, winning two gold medals, and was Canada’s general manager at the 2009 IIHF World Championship, capturing silver. Armstrong was assistant general manager at the 2002
and 2008 world championships, won gold as a special assistant to general manager Steve Yzerman in 2007, and was part of the management group at the
2013 worlds. Before joining the Blues, Armstrong spent 16 years with the Dallas Stars, winning the Stanley Cup as assistant general manager in 1999. He was
named NHL General Manager of the Year in 2011-12.
Scott Salmond
has been with Hockey Canada since 2001, serving in his current position of vice-president of hockey operations and national teams since June 2014. In this
position, Salmond oversees all operations of Canada’s national men’s teams for the Olympic Winter Games, IIHF World Championship, IIHF World Junior
Championship, and IIHF U18 World Championship, as well as the sledge hockey program at the Paralympic Winter Games and IPC Sledge Hockey World
Championship.
The next steps for the management group will be to select the Team Canada coaching staff.
Canada opens the 2016 IIHF World Championship in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia, against the U.S. on Friday, May 6, with preliminary-round games
scheduled through Tuesday, May 17. The bronze- and gold-medal games will be hosted in Moscow on Sunday, May 22.
TSN and RDS, Hockey Canada’s official broadcast partners, will carry all Team Canada games, including the four quarter-final games, two semifinals, and
both medal-round games.
Team Canada was undefeated at the 2015 IIHF World Championship in Prague and Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Since 1931, Canada was won the world championship 19 times – not counting the years when Olympic Winter Games gold-medallists were also considered world
champions. The country has also collected 11 silver medals and six bronze in that timespan.
For more information on Canada’s National Men’s Team and the IIHF World Championship, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.