On Monday, Hockey Canada named their management group for Team Canada at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. The big announcement was that St. Louis Blues general manager and Sarnia, Ont.-native Doug Armstrong will take on GM duties for the tournament.
Armstrong will be aided by Marc Bergevin (Montreal/Canadiens), Rob Blake (Simcoe/Kings), Ken Holland (Vernon/Red Wings), Bob Murray (Kingston/Ducks), and Scott Salmond, Hockey Canada’s vice president of hockey operations and national teams.
Armstrong has previously served Hockey Canada, including a stint as the director of player personnel for the 2010 Gold Medal-winning team in Sochi.
Part of Armstrong’s challenge will be that he’ll have to select his roster from players who are over the age of 23, which, depending on the cut-off date, could remove players like Tyler Seguin, Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nathan MacKinnon, and others from contention to play for Team Canada.
A coach for Team Canada was not announced. Mike Babcock has been the team’s most recent coach and is likely a favorite to get the nod again, but there’s also speculation that Joel Quenneville and Alain Vigneault are under consideration.
The preliminary roster must be announced by March 1, 2016, with the complete roster announced no later than June 1, 2016.
The first World Cup since 2004 will take place Sept. 17-Oct. 1, 2016 in Toronto.
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