Team Canada's coaches for the 2025 world juniors include the coach who led the team to gold in 2022 and a former NHL coach.
Hockey Canada announced the coaches who will lead the national men's U-20 team at the 2025 World Junior Championship in Ottawa this winter.
Coach Dave Cameron leads the team staff, which includes assistant coaches Sylvain Favreau, Mike Johnston and Chris Lazary, goaltending consultant Justin Pogge and video coach James Emery.
"Dave has won two gold medals at the World Juniors and has proven to be an excellent leader of Canada’s National Junior Team, and we are excited to have him return to coach our team as we look to reclaim gold in the nation’s capital this year," senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations Scott Salmond said in a news release. "We are also fortunate to round out our coaching staff with Sylvain, Mike, Chris, Justin and James, as all seven will benefit our team with their extensive CHL and international experience."
Cameron, 65, coached Canada's world junior team in 2022, the summer tournament in Edmonton that ended with a gold medal win. He also coached the team in 2011, winning a silver medal, and he's won another gold and silver as an assistant coach on the squad.
Cameron's been the coach of the OHL's Ottawa 67's for the past three seasons, winning the Brian Kilrea Award for CHL coach of the year in 2022-23. He has NHL experience as well, with 168 career games played in the 1980s and having coached the Ottawa Senators for parts of two seasons between 2014 and 2016, amassing a 70-50-17 record. Cameron was an assistant coach with the Senators for parts of four seasons beforehand and spent two seasons on the Calgary Flames' staff as well between 2016 and 2018.
Johnston, meanwhile, was also an NHL head coach at one point, leading the Pittsburgh Penguins for parts of two seasons and gathering a 58-37-15 record. He's been on the coaching staff for the Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings as well.
The 67-year-old's coaching and management career has lasted for more than 40 years, including three gold medal wins, one silver and a bronze for Canada at the World Championship, three world juniors gold medals from 1994 to 1996 and two Spengler Cup wins in 1992-93 and 1998-99. He's been the coach-GM of the WHL's Portland Winterhawks for all but the two seasons he coached Pittsburgh since 2008, winning a WHL championship in 2012-13.
Lazary, 42, has coached the OHL's Saginaw Spirit for the past five seasons, leading the team to its first-ever Memorial Cup championship this year as the hosts while making it to the Western Conference final in the OHL playoffs.
Favreau, 46, was an assistant on Canada's U-18 men's team at the last Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, and he's been a bench boss in the QMJHL for the past three seasons. The first two were with the Halifax Mooseheads, and this past season was with the playoff-champion Drummondville Voltigeurs.
Pogge, meanwhile, is a goaltending consultant for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Hockey Canada, whose playing experience included the NHL, AHL, SHL, KHL, ECHL and DEL. And Emery's been a video coach for Canadian teams since 2015.
Hockey Canada also announced the support staff for the world junior team.
The athletic therapists are Kevin Elliott from Charlottetown, P.E.I., and OHL Owen Sound's Andy Brown. QMJHL Cape Breton's Dr. R.J. MacKezie is the team physician, while OHL Ottawa's Sean Young is the strength and conditioning coach.
OHL Brantford's Chris Cook and WHL Portland's Clayton Johns are the equipment managers. Luke Madill of Kirkland, Que., is the mental performance consultant. Jacob Grison of Lion's Head, Ont., is the senior co-ordinator of hockey operations, while Cassidy Wait of North Vancouver, B.C., is a co-ordinator of hockey ops. Jared Power of Calgary is a hockey ops student, while Spencer Sharkey of Hamilton, Ont., is the media relations manager.
The 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa takes place from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5, 2025. The team is scheduled to have a training camp from July 28 to 31 in Windsor, Ont., and a summer showcase against Finland and the United States on Aug. 1 to 3.