NOTE: The following is an excerpt from “It’s Our Game” by Michael McKinley, which celebrates the 100-year history of Hockey Canada. The book is available now, online and at all major bookstores.

At 10 a.m. on the morning of Dec. 4, 1914, Canadian history was made. It was not a military triumph in the cold and bloody trenches of Flanders, where the soldiers fighting and dying in the colours of the Canadian Expeditionary Force now knew that they would not be home by Christmas. This history was far more genteel but no less significant in the forging of the national identity: next to the country’s majestic Parliament buildings in a chandeliered meeting room of the Chateau Laurier, Ottawa’s two-year-old grand hotel, a group of 21 hockey executives gathered to change the world.

Of course, on that chilly morning in late autumn, the stated purpose of hockey’s guardians seemed clerically humble, meeting to create “a governing body for the sport of hockey.” The Toronto Daily Star added the spin the next day, shouting out in an almost relieved headline, “National Hockey Body Formed at Last,” explaining that this new group would have “jurisdiction over the amateur game throughout the whole of Canada.”

Indeed, the men at that historic inauguration represented hockey’s breadth and complexity in a vast country just past its 47th birthday: from New Westminster, B.C., there was Reverend Albert E. Vert, a Presbyterian minister and local amateur athletics champion; from Winnipeg there was C.C. Robinson, an executive of the historic Winnipeg Victorias Hockey Club, winners of the Stanley Cup in the days of horse and carriage; from Montreal there was the American-born entrepreneur Leo Dandurand, future owner of the soon-to-be fabled Canadiens, and there was also William Northey, founder of the Canadian Arena Company, and chair of the meeting. In between those worthies there were representatives from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario, with as many from Manitoba – six – as there were from Quebec.

The gathering reflected the breakaway growth of the sport in the Canadian landscape. Just four decades after James Creighton had staged the world’s first indoor hockey match in Montreal, the sport was so popular in Canada that it now needed a national government.

Rather, it needed a body to oversee the amateur game, now that hockey had gone so robustly professional. As Canada settled to the west, hockey went with it, and by the turn of the 20th century there were elite league teams, school teams, company teams, and women’s teams across the country.

By 1904 the game had such a range of players and popularity that the world’s first professional hockey league took off to rich success in the United States. In Canada, the game was still resolutely amateur, as and a result the great hockey event of the late winter of 1905 saw the Dawson City Nuggets, an amateur team from the Yukon, travel by bicycle, steam ship and railway across Canada to challenge for the Stanley Cup in Ottawa. They captured the imagination of the public, but got a pasting from the slick Ottawa Silver Seven, who sent them back to stare at the Northern Lights and contemplate their 32-4 beating over two games.

Hockey became professional in Canada in 1908, which only served to focus the distinction between those players who were paid, and those were not. And so in Ottawa on that December morning in 1914, the men who assembled at the Chateau Laurier also took a crack at creating an organization to govern both professional and amateur hockey, an idea “promptly opposed by many of the representatives present.”

But they won the agreement from Allan Cup trustee William Northey that this trophy would become the chief prize awarded by the new governing body. Montreal banker, steamship line owner and Canadian blueblood Sir H. Montague Allan, C.V.O. had donated the cup in 1908 to encourage excellence in amateur hockey after the Stanley Cup increasingly became the domain the championship trophy of the professionals. And now, it would become the symbol of excellence for Canada’s newest sporting body, one which would govern and grow the game for the next century and beyond.

After thanking the hotel manager for use of the room, the founders adjourned and went about their business of the day, having just created the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association.

TORONTO – May 18, 2018 – Hockey Canada and Bauer Hockey have extended their partnership through a new eight-year deal that will see the nation’s top teams provided with equipment from the world’s top brand, and a continued collaboration on opportunities to increase participation, welcome new players and engage existing players.

“One of our team’s highest points of pride is our continued partnership with Hockey Canada because it is an example of the game’s best at a variety of age levels selecting BAUER for their game,” said Ed Kinnaly, CEO of Bauer Hockey. “More than the equipment, this partnership allows us to come together with Hockey Canada to advance our shared missions, such as when we created The First Shift in 2013 together, and we’re looking forward to continuing this collaborative approach over the next eight years.”

For the past 45 years, Bauer Hockey and Hockey Canada have been partners, and continuing a tradition since 1996, Bauer Hockey will be the official equipment provider of Hockey Canada’s national teams. Canada’s national team players will exclusively wear BAUER helmets, gloves, visors and goal masks, including at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship when it returns to Canadian ice in Vancouver and Victoria, B.C., in December 2018.

“Our partnership with BAUER provides Hockey Canada with the best equipment for our national men’s, women’s, and para hockey teams, while also aligning us with a like-minded organization that cares about growing the game at the grassroots level,” said Scott Smith, president and chief operating officer at Hockey Canada. “We look forward to eight more years of collaboration with BAUER from the grassroots level to our high-performance teams.”

In addition to the equipment partnership, Bauer Hockey and Hockey Canada will continue to collaborate in areas where they have shared missions. Over the last several years, the two organizations combined resources and expertise to create, launch and expand The Canadian Tire First Shift, a successful program that welcomes new-to-hockey families to the game.

Today in partnership with Canadian Tire it is offered in hundreds of communities across Canada. Bauer Hockey and Hockey Canada will continue to identify and develop other initiatives to further advance the game for both new and existing players, including activation at major hockey tournaments and all IIHF events hosted by Hockey Canada.

To learn more about Hockey Canada, visit www.HockeyCanada.ca.

CALGARY, Alta. – After a 2020-21 season that saw limited on-ice opportunities and virtual summer camps, Hockey Canada has announced its men’s and women’s national teams will return to the ice in July for their annual summer camps.

From July 25-Aug. 10, Hockey Canada’s national team program, including the men’s under-18 and under-20 teams, and women’s under-18, NextGen (born in 2003), development and senior national teams, will gather in Calgary for a series of on- and off-ice activities for the first time since 2019.

“After a unique and difficult season, Hockey Canada is thrilled to provide our national team athletes and staff the opportunity to return to the ice for our annual summer camps in Calgary,” said Scott Salmond (Creston, B.C.), senior vice-president of national teams. “We look forward to hosting the top athletes and staff from across the country in July, and are excited to kick off our preparations for a new season and a number of international competitions.”

The Program of Excellence (POE) camps, which includes the men’s under-18 and under-20 programs, will take place at the Seven Chiefs Sportsplex on the Tsuut'ina Nation, while the BFL National Women’s Program Summer Showcase, presented by Sobeys, will take place at WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park. Canada’s National Para Hockey Team will also gather for a five-day off-ice boot camp in preparation for the 2021-22 season and 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.

“This year’s summer camps mark the first time that all levels of the National Women’s Program will participate in camp at the same time, helping us provide consistency with all our athletes and staff throughout the program,” said Gina Kingsbury (Rouyn-Noranda, Que.), director of women’s national teams. “Despite a difficult season, our athletes have done an excellent job of staying connected and working hard with limited resources, and we are excited to get back on the ice this summer as we work towards the upcoming season.”

The following national team camps and programs will be hosted in Calgary this summer:

• National Para Hockey Team boot camp (July 21-25)
• National Women’s Team pre-worlds camp (July 25-Aug. 10)
• National Men’s Under-18 Team summer development camp (July 26-Aug. 3)
• BFL National Women’s Under-18 Team summer camp, presented by Sobeys (July 29-Aug. 5) – including NextGen athletes
• BFL National Women’s Development Team summer camp, presented by Sobeys (July 29-Aug. 9)
• National Junior Team summer development camp (July 29-Aug. 3)

In the coming weeks, Hockey Canada will announce the rosters and staffs for each national team program.

For more information on Hockey Canada, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along via social media on Facebook and Twitter.

CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence and National Women’s Program are preparing for the 2019-20 season with a pair of four-day goaltending camps at the Markin MacPhail Centre at WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. 

The camps bring together the top goaltending talent and elite-level instructors from across the country. They serve as the initial evaluation stage for summer development and selections camps for Canada’s national teams.

The Program of Excellence goaltending camp, set for June 5-8, will welcome 26 male goaltenders, including 10 at the under-20 level, four at the under-18 level and 12 in the under-17 category.

“The Program of Excellence goaltending camp is another great opportunity to work with the top young goaltenders in the country, and a very important part of the development process for these athletes,” said Shawn Bullock, director of men’s national teams for Hockey Canada. “This four-day camp will provide goalies at all levels of our program the benefit of working with and learning from some of the top instructors in Canada in preparation for the upcoming season.” 

On the National Women’s Program side, 20 goaltenders will gather in Calgary from June 6-9 for four days of practices. Eleven goaltenders will participate in the National Women’s Team and National Women’s Development Team camp, joined by nine in the under-18 category.

“We are excited to welcome 20 of the top goaltenders in the country, and to continue to develop the strong talent pool of goalies in Canada,” said Gina Kingsbury, director of women’s national teams for Hockey Canada. “Having all our athletes from the under-18 level to the national team work with the same group of elite coaches provides consistency to our program and allows for development at all ages of the National Women’s Program.”

All on-ice sessions are open to the public and media.

For more information on Hockey Canada, the Program of Excellence and National Women’s Program, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow through social media on Facebook and Twitter.

CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada has introduced a new format for its summer development camps, bringing a total of 194 male and 86 female players plus coaching and support staff to the Markin MacPhail Centre at WinSport's Canada Olympic Park in Calgary for a total of 19 days of on- and off-ice sessions in preparation for the 2015-16 season.

Between July 29 and Aug. 16, Calgary will host some of the top hockey talent in the nation as part of Canada’s National Junior Team Sport Chek Summer Development Camp (40 players), Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team selection camp (43 players), Canada’s national under-17 development camp (111 players), Canada’s National Women’s Development Team selection camp (43 players), and Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team selection camp (43 players).

In addition, Hockey Canada is leveraging the Summer Showcase to bring together 2015-16 event host communities from across country for a three-day National Events Seminar. Working with Hockey Canada’s event-management team, the community leads will learn about the organization’s event-hosting best practices, and share information with colleagues across the country. Confirmed attendees represent the communities of Quispamsis, N.B., Hunstville, Ont., Weyburn, Sask., Morden, Man., Lloydminster, Alta., Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, B.C., St. Catharines, Ont., Cobourg and Whitby, Ont., Prince George, B.C., Kamloops, B.C., Toronto, Ont., and Montreal, Que.

“We’ve taken a new approach this year, bringing most of our camps under one National Teams’ Summer Showcase to create an environment for our teams to learn from and inspire each other,” said Tom Renney, president and CEO, Hockey Canada. “It was a natural fit to time our National Events Seminar so that this year’s event hosts are able to benefit from that same information-sharing, all within the framework of the Summer Showcase as an active event.”

Catching the action of the National Teams’ Summer Showcase

The National Teams’ Summer Showcase presents a unique opportunity for hockey fans across the country to indulge in their favourite sport before the official season kick-off. All teams will be split into smaller squads for several practices and intrasquad games, as well as off-ice dryland training, fitness testing, and high-performance classroom sessions. Intrasquad games for the men’s under-17, men’s and women’s under-18, and women’s development teams are free and open to the public, and will be webcast by FASTHockey available on the Hockey Canada website at www.hockeycanada.ca/U18Live, www.hockeycanada.ca/U17Live and www.hockeycanada.ca/DevLive.  

As part of Canada’s National Junior Team Sport Chek Summer Development Camp, Canada will face off against the Czech Republic for games on Aug. 4 and Aug. 6, and against Russia on Aug. 3 and Aug. 5. Tickets to those four games, being hosted at the Markin MacPhail Centre, are available for purchase as a $40 four-game ticket package, or through single-game tickets at $15 each. All four games will also be televised on TSN and RDS.

For all team rosters, scheduling and ticket purchase information regarding the Hockey Canada National Teams’ Summer Showcase, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca/showcase.

For more information on Hockey Canada and its national teams, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca, or follow along through social media at www.facebook.com/hockeycanada, and www.twitter.com/hockeycanada.

Editors’ note: interviews can be coordinated through the following assigned media contacts: Lisa Dornan – junior camp and Hockey Canada executives; Morgan Bell – men’s under-18 and women’s development camps; Esther Madziya – men’s under-17 and women’s under-18 camps.

CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada has unveiled a new, limited edition Team Canada Nike heritage jersey for the 2020-21 season, set to be worn by Canada’s national teams at upcoming world championships.

The heritage jersey features a classic red base colour with a white maple leaf crest and white maple leaf accents on the sleeves, as well as a single white stripe. It will make its debut on the ice at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton, and is scheduled to be worn by Canada’s National Women’s Team, Canada’s National Men’s Team and Canada’s National Para Hockey Team.

“This jersey is an updated look from classic Team Canada jerseys that have been worn during some of Canada’s most memorable moments, and represents the pride Canadians have in our heritage and the game of hockey,” said Tom Renney, chief executive officer of Hockey Canada. “Our partners at Nike have created a new design that fits in with the long line of historic Team Canada jerseys, and we know our players and fans alike will embrace the heritage jersey as part of Canada’s largest team.”

The jersey also prominently features Hockey Canada shoulder patches, as well as white maple leaves with CANADA inscribed along the inside bottom hem of the jersey. A gold maple leaf can be found inside the collar to signify Canada’s place in hockey history and achievements on the international stage.

“It’s always an honour for our players and staff to wear the Maple Leaf, but it’s even more special when you have the opportunity to wear a jersey that represents Canadian heritage,” said Scott Salmond, senior vice-president of national teams for Hockey Canada. “We know our athletes will be excited to wear the heritage jersey, and we look forward to seeing fans across the country cheering us on in their new Team Canada jerseys.”

Before Team Canada takes to the ice in the new heritage jersey, fans can purchase their own customized jersey by visiting shop.hockeycanada.ca. The heritage jersey is also available for purchase starting today at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT at participating retail locations, including Sport Chek, Pro Hockey Life, Sports Experts, Hockey Experts and National Sports.

For more information on Hockey Canada, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along via social media on Facebook and Twitter.

CALGARY, Alta. – The top 196 players in Canada have been invited to attend men’s camps as part of the National Teams’ Summer Showcase from July 26-Aug. 6.

In its second summer, the National Teams’ Summer Showcase will bring together Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team selection camp (44 players) and Canada’s national under-17 development camp (111 players) in Calgary, at the Markin MacPhail Centre from July 26-Aug. 2. Canada’s National Junior Team Sport Chek Summer Development Camp (41 players) will be hosted in Toronto July 30-Aug. 2, and will feature a four-game series against the Finland, Sweden and the United States from Aug. 3-6 in Plymouth, Mich.

Ryan Jankowski, director of player personnel for Hockey Canada, was responsible for all player selections, with assistance from regional scouts Carl Bouchard (Quebec), Barclay Branch (Ontario), Wade Klippenstein (West), Kevin Mitchell (Atlantic), and Darrell Woodley (Ontario) for the under-17 roster along with branch representatives, and with input from coaches and general managers from across the Canadian Hockey League for the under-18 and under-20 rosters.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase the talent we have across the country, and for our coaches and scouts to evaluate the players in our programs,” said Scott Salmond, Hockey Canada’s vice-president of hockey operations and national teams. “These camps are key in selecting our international teams for the 2016-17 season, and we are looking forward to hosting 196 players as they work towards their ultimate goal of wearing the maple leaf.”

Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team selection camp

From July 29-Aug. 2, 44 players – four goaltenders, 16 defencemen, and 24 forwards – will participate in practices and three Red-White intrasquad games.

Of the 44 players who have been invited to the selection camp, 22 will be selected for Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team for the 2016 U18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup, Aug. 8-12 in Breclav, Czech Republic and Bratislava, Slovakia. Canada has won the summer under-18 tournament 11 times in the last 12 years, including the last eight consecutive years. 

Canada’s national under-17 development camp

From July 26-Aug. 1, 111 players – 12 goaltenders, 36 defenceman and 63 forwards – will participate in practices and games on one of six teams: Black, Blue, Gold, Green, Red, and White.

Following the development camp, players will continue to be evaluated through the early season before 66 are selected to represent Canada on one of three national teams – Team Canada Black, Team Canada Red, and Team Canada White – at the 2016 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, which is scheduled for Oct. 30-Nov. 5 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

This year, 110 players have been drafted or listed by CHL teams, including 42 from the Ontario Hockey League, 40 from the Western Hockey League and 28 from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Canada’s National Junior Team Sport Chek Summer Development Camp

From July 30-Aug. 6, 41 players – four goaltenders, 14 defencemen and 23 forwards – will participate in practices from July 30-Aug. 2 in Toronto before playing in a series against Finland, Sweden, and the United States at the USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Mich.

Jankowski will continue to monitor these players and other potential candidates during the first few months of the 2016-17 season and at the CHL Canada Russia Series to determine who will be invited to Canada’s National Junior Team selection camp in December. In total, 22 players will be selected to represent Canada at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship when it returns to Canadian ice Dec. 26, 2016 to Jan. 5, 2017 in Montreal and Toronto.

For more information on Hockey Canada and the Program of Excellence, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow along via social media on Facebook, Twitter, and Twitter.com/HC_Men. 

CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada announced Monday that the 10th annual Hockey Canada Foundation Celebrity Classic gala and golf tournament has been rescheduled for Aug. 19-20 at the Markin MacPhail Centre in Calgary.

The foundation’s annual signature event, which celebrates the season’s world championship-winning national teams while also raising funds for a local minor hockey legacy program and minor hockey programs across the country, was originally scheduled for June 24-25 but was postponed due to severe flooding in southern Alberta.

This year’s gala will take place Monday, Aug. 19 at the Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park, the home of Hockey Canada. The golf tournament is set for Tuesday, Aug. 20 at Priddis Greens Golf and Country Club in Priddis, Alta., just outside Calgary.

Partial proceeds of $250,000 from the funds raised at the two-day event, including unique silent and live auctions featuring rare memorabilia, will go toward relief for those affected by floods that recently washed through Alberta, including the City of Calgary. Team Canada alumni Sheldon Kennedy and Lanny McDonald are serving as honorary co-chairs for the 2013 Hockey Canada Foundation Celebrity Classic, in recognition of their great impact on the game across the country and within the Calgary community.

“Alberta is now faced with the difficult challenges of recovering and rebuilding, but the way in which residents across the province have come together to make that happen has been truly inspiring,” Kennedy said. “The additional financial assistance that the Hockey Canada Foundation will be able to provide for relief efforts through this event will be much-appreciated by those impacted by the devastating flood.”

“The strength, passion and volunteer spirit that have spread through Alberta are much like that of the hockey community across our great country,” McDonald said. “We look forward to welcoming our national teams, sponsors and other special guests to Calgary this August to experience not only the exciting festivities surrounding this year’s Celebrity Classic, but also the incredible positivity that is buzzing through our province, even in the face of hardship.”

Another $250,000 will go toward KidSport Calgary, which aims to make sports such as hockey more affordable for underprivileged youth. Other proceeds from the event will go toward Hockey Canada Foundation programming that promotes accessibility and diversity in the sport, as well as other positive values such as health and wellness, hockey heritage and skill development, from the grassroots level to Canada’s Olympic teams.

“We are proud to continue supporting KidSport, a not-for-profit group with values that truly align with those of our foundation, while also providing much-needed assistance for victims of the Alberta floods,” Hockey Canada Foundation chair Grant Fagerheim said. “We look forward to seeing the country’s hockey community come together this August to not only celebrate the accomplishments of our national teams, but also raise funds for these very worthwhile causes.”

This year’s gala celebrates the success of Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team, which won the country’s third gold medal at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in Heinola, Finland in January; Canada’s National Sledge Team, which won the gold medal at the 2013 IPC Sledge Hockey World Hockey Championship in Goyang, South Korea in April; and Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team, which won the gold medal at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship in Sochi, Russia, also in April.

The Hockey Canada Foundation Celebrity Classic will be held for the third time in Calgary, which previously hosted in 2007 and 2008. Toronto (2004, 2005, 2006, 2012), Montreal (2009), Edmonton (2010) and Ottawa (2011) have also played host to the Celebrity Classic, which has raised more than $4 million in its first nine years.

For more information on the Hockey Canada Foundation, Hockey Canada and its programs, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca, and follow along via social media at www.facebook.com/hockeycanada, and www.twitter.com/hockeycanada.

If Corey McNabb wanted to coach elite level cricket, he wouldn’t know where to begin.

“I don’t even know what the bat is called, or the stick, or whatever you use,” he said with a chuckle. “I would have no idea how … to teach kids."

So what would help Hockey Canada’s senior manager of coaching and playing development instruct athletes in a sport he doesn’t know much about?

An interactive digital resource for coaches that includes printable drill diagrams, accompanying descriptions, and videos demonstrating exactly how those drills are done, would certainly be a good place for him to start.

Replace the cricket pitch with a hockey rink, and that’s exactly what McNabb and his staff have created to help coaches across the country prepare players who are Peewee age or older for elite level hockey – which could include participation in Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence, celebrating three decades of on-ice success this year.

From the pitch to the rink, and everywhere in between, he said there’s nothing else quite like the new Hockey Canada Program of Excellence Drills and Videos DVD available in the sports world. Not unlike the Team Canada Skills of Gold video series that came before it, this special multimedia coaching tool shows, once again, that Hockey Canada is at the forefront of sport development.

“The Program of Excellence DVD is bar none, the best resource in the world for teaching,” McNabb said of the brand new resource for hockey coaches, now available for $39.95 online right HERE on Hockey Canada’s website.

“It’s different than a traditional DVD because … we designed it all in Flash, which makes it much more user-friendly,” he said. “It’s the only one that really combines manual, which is the actual drill and the description, with video.”

In addition to about 140 video drill demonstrations, the DVD features 180 drill diagrams, more than 50 different skill concepts, 15 set practice plans and the ability for coaches to mix-and-match all of that material to create upwards of 60 different practice progressions for their teams.

McNabb’s favourite features are that you can access the matching video by clicking your mouse directly on the drill diagram, and “the fact that you can print off the practice plans and take them to the rink with you.”

Perhaps one of the DVD’s top selling point is that its “designed right after the Hockey Canada Program of Excellence manual,” which means its jam-packed with knowledge from many of the country’s top hockey minds.

“Tom Renney, Mike Johnston, Mike Babcock, Ken Hitchcock, Brent Sutter – all the guys who have coached in that program before, we’ve collected drills and concepts (from),” he said. “They’ve basically said, ‘This is what players should know.’ ”

In fact, it’s what Canadian players NEED to know if they want to fulfil their dreams of representing their country on the ice, McNabb said. That includes players such as Emerance Maschmeyer, who won a gold medal with Canada at the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in the Czech Republic, and is featured on the DVD demonstrating Program of Excellence goaltending skills.

Young up-and-comers such as the Western Hockey League’s Troy Bourke of the Prince George Cougars and Colin Smith of the Kamloops Blazers also perform drill demonstrations featured on the DVD’s video clips, which were filmed over the course of three summers at Rexall Place in Edmonton.

Ultimately, the goal is to get the DVD filled with skills and drills into the hands of as many coaches as possible across the country, McNabb said, so that each and every Canadian player can be at their best – including those who will one day wear a maple leaf on their jerseys.

“It’s really trying to provide some standard of play, skill and understanding, as far as what coaches are teaching and players are learning,” McNabb said. “Too many times some of our high performance materials only get into the hands of the coaches and players once they actually get to the high performance level. This is all about preparing them in order to get there.”

Its consistency at the grassroots level across the country that will result in Canadian gold medals on international ice, McNabb said, adding the Hockey Canada Program of Excellence Drills and Videos DVD is the best way for coaches to tap into the incredible potential of their players.

“It’s one-stop shopping,” he said. “This is the only thing you need; it’s got everything you want.”

Order your copy at www.HockeyCanada.ca/Breakaway today.

CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada announced Wednesday that Ron Tugnutt (Peterborough, Ont.) has been hired as a full-time goaltending consultant for the 2011-12 season.

In this expanded role, Tugnutt will be scouting for Canada’s national men’s teams as well as working with Hockey Canada’s development department to develop and improve resources for goaltenders and goaltending coaches.

Tugnutt will continue to work closely with Canada’s National Junior Team and National Men’s Under-18 Team, scouting and assisting goaltenders for Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence.

Ron Tugnutt, 43, has worked with Hockey Canada in a part-time capacity over the past two seasons. He served as goaltending consultant for Canada’s National Junior Team at the 20 IIHF World Junior Championships, winning two silver medals, and will continue as the goaltending coach for Canada’s National Junior Team at the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship. Tugnutt also served as goaltending consultant with Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team at the 2009 IIHF World Under-18 Championship, finishing fourth. He served as an assistant coach with the OHL’s Peterborough Petes in 2010-11. As a player, Tugnutt spent 17 seasons in the NHL and represented Canada twice, at the 19 IIHF World Championships.

“We are excited about Ron’s new position with Hockey Canada and look forward to working with him on a full-time basis,” said Brad Pascall, Hockey Canada’s vice-president of hockey operations/national teams. “The experience that he has, both in the NHL and internationally, will have a definite impact on our goaltenders, and we feel the way he works and thinks reflects our organization.”