Evidently Mitch Love made quite an impression during his stint as a coach at last year’s 2015 World U-17 Hockey Challenge in British Columbia.
On Wednesday Hockey Canada announced that the Everett Silvertips assistant coach earned the honor for a second consecutive year as he will join Team Red at the 2016 World U-17 Hockey Challenge to be held Oct. 30-Nov. 5 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
NEWS: Assistant coach @mlovehockey selected to @HockeyCanada’s U17 coaching staff > https://t.co/iQCNnafl1T pic.twitter.com/58xvLSSqiC
— Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) June 8, 2016
Love, you may recall, helped coach the Team Canada White squad to the gold medal at last year’s event after he was a late addition to the coaching staff.
Former Medicine Hat Tiger and Swift Current Bronco Rocky Thompson will serve as head coach for Team Red. Thompson, who reached the NHL with the Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers, is currently the coach of the Windsor Spitfires in the Ontario Hockey League. Joining Love as an assistant is fellow Quesnel, B.C., native Ryan Marsh, a former Tri-City Americans player who is an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oil Kings.
“We’re all grass roots WHL guys, which for me is pretty cool,” Love said. “I looked up to Rocky Thompson when he was in the National Hockey League, and I’m excited to work with both of them.”
The coaching staffs for all of Hockey Canada’s 2016-17 events will descend on Calgary this weekend for what Love calls one of his “favorite weekends of the year.”
“You have all of what Hockey Canada considers its top coaches for the year in one spot, and there is lots of hockey banter back and forth, and lots of seminars,” he said. “One thing I’ve learned in this business is that when you think you know everything, you really don’t. It’s all about finding those things that you didn’t know and bringing that back to Everett.”
One drawback to coaching in the event is that Love and all members of the Hockey Canada coaching staffs will miss several weeks of their respective junior seasons. Love said he was grateful that the Silvertips organization gave him its blessing once again this year.
“The honor of doing this again for Hockey Canada is a thrill for me, and I can’t thank (the Tips organization) enough,” Love said. “It’s a big commitment. I don’t think I knew how big of a commitment it was until last year.”
Meanwhile, one of Love’s protégés, Tips defenseman Jake Christiansen, will compete for Canada Inline at the 2016 Inline Hockey World Championships in Asiago and Roana, Italy, beginning this weekend.
The inline hockey event features squads from 30 different countries. The six-foot, 185-pound Christiansen will play for Canada’s Junior Boys roster in Pool A alongside CzechRepublic, Colombia, Namibia, and Slovenia.
Christiansen, who earned eight points in 48 games last season as a 16-year-old defenseman, is a native of West Vancouver, B.C. and was Everett’s fifth-round pick in the 2014 WHL bantam draft.
We also learned today that the Silvertips will be the visiting team on Sept. 23 when the Vancouver Giants open their season at the LangleyEventsCenter. The Giants, who are retaining the “Vancouver” title, moved to LEC after a long stint at Pacific Coliseum.
The rest of the 2016-17 WHL schedule is expected to be released in the coming weeks.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
