Doan. Image courtesy of Kamloops Blazers
Hockey Canada has appointed Roberto Luongo (Montreal, Que./Florida, NHL) general manager of Canada’s National Men’s Team for the 2021 IIHF World Championship, May 21-June 6 in Riga, Latvia.
Joining Luongo on the management group will be Shane Doan of Halkirk, Alta. and Scott Salmond of Creston, B.C., senior-vice-president of national teams with Hockey Canada.
Doan most recently worked with the Team Canada management group at the 2019 Spengler Cup, winning the championship, and was a consultant at the 2019 IIHF World Championship, winning a silver medal.
As a player, he represented Canada six times at the IIHF World Championship (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009), where he won two gold medals (2003, 2007) and three silver (2005, 2008, 2009).
Doan also won the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and wore the Maple Leaf at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games.
He played 21 seasons (1995-2017) with the Winnipeg Jets and Arizona Coyotes, and is the all-time franchise leader in goals (395), assists (560) and points (955).
The group will oversee and lead all hockey operations, including staff and player selection and evaluation as Canada looks to win its first gold medal since 2016.
With the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China less than one year away, the 2021 IIHF World Championship will serve as an important step in the evaluation and preparation process, should NHL players participate, as both Luongo and Salmond were recently named to the Olympic management group.
“Hockey Canada is excited to have Roberto lead our management group at the IIHF World Championship this year, and to continue to work with our entire Olympic management team as we continue to prepare for the 2022 Olympics,” said Tom Renney, chief executive officer of Hockey Canada.
“We are also fortunate to have Shane and Scott contribute as assistant general managers; both individuals bring a wealth of experience to Canada’s National Men’s Team. Roberto, Shane and Scott bring a strong combination of NHL and international experience, both on and off the ice, and they will complement each other as we work towards building a team that can compete for a gold medal.”
Canada opens the 2021 IIHF World Championship on Friday, May 21 at Arena Riga against host Latvia with preliminary-round games through Tuesday, June 1.
Canada will also face Italy, Finland, Germany, Kazakhstan, Norway and the United States in the preliminary round before the tournament wraps up with the bronze and gold medal games on Sunday, June 6.
Since 1931, Canada has won the world championship 20 times – not counting the years when Olympic Winter Games gold medallists were also considered world champions.
Canada has also collected 13 silver medals and seven bronze.
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