CALGARY, Alta. – A newly-minted Memorial Cup champion, Trevor Letowski (Thunder Bay, Ont./Windsor, OHL) has joined the coaching staff of Canada's National Junior Team for the 2017-18 season following the departure of assistant coach Kris Knoblauch, who recently accepted an NHL coaching role with the Philadelphia Flyers.

This will be Letowski’s second turn as assistant coach for Canada’s National Junior Team; he was an assistant coach at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship, where he worked alongside Dominique Ducharme (Joliette, Que./Drummondville, QMJHL) who rose to the ranks of head coach of the team the following year – a position he retains through the 2017-18 season.

Letowski, who wrapped up his NHL career having played 616 games as a member of the Phoenix Coyotes, Vancouver Canucks, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Carolina Hurricanes, spent five years coaching the OHL’s Sarnia Sting and joined the Windsor Spitfires’ coaching staff as associate coach in the summer of 2015. He was named head coach of the Spitfires in June 2017.

In addition to winning the 2017 Memorial Cup with the Spitfires, Letowski is a World Juniors gold-medallist, having played on the winning Canadian squad at the 1997 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Hockey Canada announced in March that Ducharme would return as head coach of Canada’s National Junior Team, and that Tim Hunter (Calgary/Moose Jaw, WHL) will reprise his role as assistant coach.

Canada’s National Junior Team coaches and staff will be joined by 42 players who have been invited to take part in the Summer Showcase in Plymouth, Mich., in August.

Team management, coaches, and staff will continue to evaluate the players throughout the season with the goal of shortlisting the roster for the December selection camp and, ultimately, field the team that will go for gold in Buffalo, N.Y., at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship.

For more information on Canada’s National Junior Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along via social media on Facebook, and Twitter.