Knights Dale Hunter to lead Team Canada

Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Hockey League, announced today that London Knights owner, president & head coach Dale Hunter will serve as the head coach of Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team for the 2013 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament. The tournament is scheduled for August 5-10 in Breclav, Czech Republic and Piestany, Slovakia.

PHOTO CREDIT - LondonKnights.com

London - June 27, 2013 - Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Hockey League, announced today that London Knights owner, president & head coach Dale Hunter will serve as the head coach of Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team for the 2013 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament. The tournament is scheduled for August 5-10 in Breclav, Czech Republic and Piestany, Slovakia. Dominique Ducharme, head coach of the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads, and D.J. Smith, head coach of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals, will serve as assistant coaches.

Hunter, 52, will enter his 13th season as head coach for the London Knights after leading them to their second straight OHL Championship and third in franchise history last season. He was behind the bench when the Knights captured their only Memorial Cup title in 2005. Hunter spent part of the 2011-12 season as head coach of the NHL’s Washington Capitals before returning back to the Knights for the start of the 2012-13 season. He’s the fastest coach in OHL history to reach 500 career wins and was recently honoured at the Hockey Hall of Fame for this milestone. Hunter is a veteran of 19 NHL seasons with Quebec and Washington, and had his number 32 retired by the Capitals.

Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team will gather in Toronto for a selection camp July 25-29 at the MasterCard Centre prior to selecting the team which will travel to Europe to compete in the Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament. Canada has won the annual summer tournament five years in a row and 15 of the last 17 years. London Knights forwards Max Domi and Bo Horvat captured gold with Team Canada at last year’s tournament.

Hockey Canada also announced today that London Knights owner, vice president & general manager Mark Hunter will serve on the management group that will oversee hockey operations for Hockey Canada’s Men’s Program of Excellence. Joining Hunter will be Joel Bouchard (Blainville-Boisbriand, QMJHL), Sean Burke (Phoenix, NHL) and Bruce Hamilton (Kelowna, WHL). This group will be working directly with Hockey Canada vice president of hockey operations and national teams Brad Pascall and senior director of hockey operations and national teams Scott Salmond to oversee operations of the under-17, under-18 and under-20 programs.