Hockey Canada had to do some shuffling today and Battalion Head Coach Stan Butler is part of it.
Hockey Canada, in conjunction with the Canadian Hockey League, announced Tuesday that Kelly McCrimmon will join Canada’s National Junior Team as an assistant coach and Stan Butler will serve as head coach of Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team.
McCrimmon, who was previously named head coach of Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team, accepted the position with the National Junior Team coaching staff following the departure of D.J. Smith, who joined the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs as an assistant coach.
With McCrimmon’s move, Butler takes over as head coach of Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team, and will be joined by new assistant coach Shaun Clouston (Viking, Alta./Medicine Hat, WHL).
Clouston replaces Sheldon Keefe, who was recently named head coach of the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. Butler and Clouston will be joined by assistant coach Darren Rumble (Barrie, Ont./Moncton, QMJHL).
Butler recently completed his 17th season with the team, making him the longest-tenured coach in the Ontario Hockey League.
As head coach of Canada’s National Junior Team, Butler won bronze at the IIHF World Junior Championship in 2001 and silver in 2002, and earned a silver medal as an assistant coach in 1999. As head coach, he won gold with Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team at the 1999 Four Nations Tournament, and gold as an assistant coach at the 1998 Three Nations Tournament.
Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team selection camp will include Battalion forward Zach Poirier and Battalion prospect and Notre Dame University commit Cameron Morrison.
The selection camp will take place July 29th to August 6th in Calgary, Alberta.
For more information on the Hockey Canada Program of Excellence, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca, or follow along via social media at www.facebook.com/hockeycanada, www.twitter.com/hockeycanada, and www.twitter.com/hc_men.
Butler is the second North Bay coach to get a Hockey Canada appointment this week. On the weekend, Hockey Canada named Lakers Varsity Women's Head Coach Darren Turcotte as an assistant coach for Canada's National Women's Development Team.
