Toronto, Ont. – Hockey Canada announced Wednesday a pair of OHL representatives named to Canada’s National Junior Team hockey operations staff. The 2022 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship will be held from December 26 to January 5, 2023 in Halifax, NS and Moncton, NB.
Former OHL General Manager of the Year James Boyd of the Ottawa 67’s will return as the U20 lead for the Program of Excellence management group after helping assemble the team that won gold at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship. Boyd, whose 67’s currently lead the OHL with a 12-1-0-0 record and are fourth-ranked in this week’s Kia CHL Top 10 Rankings, is in his sixth season as General Manager in Ottawa.
A native of Midland, Ont., Boyd played four seasons in the OHL with the Kitchener Rangers, Ottawa 67’s and Belleville Bulls from 1993-97. He’s served in coaching stints with the Belleville Bulls, Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors and Steelheads over a lengthy OHL coaching tenure that dates back to 1999.
Sarnia Sting Head Coach Alan Letang returns to Canada’s bench as an assistant at the World Juniors after serving in that capacity during the 2020 tournament. Letang also served as an Assistant Coach with Canada’s National Under-18 Team at this past summer’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup that resulted in a gold medal finish for Canada.
A product of Renfrew, Ont., Letang played four OHL seasons between the Cornwall Royals, Newmarket Royals and Sarnia Sting from 1991-95 before embarking on a lengthy professional career that spanned 20 seasons and included 14 games in the NHL. He worked in assistant and head coaching roles with the Owen Sound Attack from 2016-20, and is in his second season as Head Coach of the Sarnia Sting.
Other OHL representatives named to Canada’s National Junior Team hockey operations staff include Athletic Therapist Andy Brown of the Owen Sound Attack, Equipment Manager Chris Cook of the Hamilton Bulldogs, Strength and Conditioning Coach Sean Young of the Ottawa 67’s and Security Liaison Bob Martin of the London Knights.
Canada’s National Junior Team will gather at the Avenir Centre in Moncton for a four-day selection camp, Dec. 9-12, before selecting a final roster ahead of the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship. The selection camp roster will be announced in the coming weeks.
For more information on Hockey Canada and the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along via social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
