Kitchener's Spott named Canadian world junior hockey coach

Steve Spott will be Canada's head coach at the next world junior hockey championships.

Spott, head coach and GM of the Kitchener Rangers, will have Mario Duhamel, Don Nachbaur and Andre Tourigny as his assistants for the Dec. 26-Jan. 6 tournament in Ufa, Russia.

The 44-year-old Spott will make his fifth appearance on a Canadian coaching staff and second with the junior team. He was an assistant with the team that won silver at the 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship, winning a silver medal.

He won gold as head coach of the men's under-18 team at the 2011 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament.

Spott had been head coach and GM of the OHL's Rangers since 2008, and with the organization since 2001.

The 37-year-old Duhamel will make his first appearance with Canada's junior team. He coached the U-18 team that won gold at the 2011 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka. Duhamel has been head coach of the QMJHL's Drummondville Voltigeurs for the past three seasons.

Nachbaur, 53, is also making his world junior coaching debut.

He's coached two under-18 teams to gold, at the 1999 Four Nations Cup and 2011 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament. He's been the head coach of the WHL's Spokane Chiefs since the start of the 2010-11 season.

Tourigny, 38, will coach his third junior team, after helping Canada to silver medals at the 2010 and 2011 IIHF world junior championships. He's been head coach of the QMJHL's Rouyn-Noranda Huskies since 2001.

The 2012 Canada-Russia Challenge will replace the Canadian team's summer development camp. The four-game series will be played Aug. 9-10 in Yaroslavl, Russia, and Aug. 13-14 in Halifax.