Bruce Richardson named head coach of Canada East; Mike Reagan returns as head coach of Canada West
November 06, 2024
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CALGARY, Alberta – Hockey Canada, in consultation with the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), has announced the eight coaches tasked to lead Canada East and Canada West at the 2024 Junior A World Challenge, Dec. 9-15 in Camrose, Alberta.
Bruce Richardson (Montreal, QC/Valleyfield, LHJAAAQ) will lead Canada East as head coach, alongside assistants Andrew Campoli (Toronto, ON/Collingwood, OJHL) and Brandon Perry (Timmins, ON/Timmins, NOJHL), and video coach Mike Stinziani (Lorraine, QC/Montreal, LHJAAAQ). Mike Reagan (Flin Flon, MB/Flin Flon, SJHL) will retake the reins of Canada West, working with assistants Éric Labrosse (Wawa, ON/Northern Manitoba/MJHL) and Shawn Martin (Wainwright, AB/Whitecourt, AJHL), and video coach Carter Hansen (Craven, SK/Humboldt, SJHL).
Richardson assumed the role of general manager with the Valleyfield Braves in August, having served as head coach since January. He previously served as head coach of the Victoriaville Tigres (2014-16) and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (2018-23) of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. Internationally, he won a gold medal as an assistant coach with Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team at the 2024 IIHF U18 World Championship and added a bronze medal in 2023. He was also an assistant coach at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games. Richardson was head coach of Canada White at the 2022 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and served as an assistant coach with Canada Black at the tournament in November 2014.
Reagan is in his 19th season behind the bench as head coach for the Flin Flon Bombers of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL), winning SJHL and CJHL coach of the year honours in 2023-24. Since 2013, he has also served as general manager. This will be Reagan’s fourth time representing Canada West at the Junior A World Challenge (2015, 2016, 2017), having won a gold medal as video coach in 2015 and head coach in 2017.
Hockey Canada also announced that Marc Gagnon (Powassan, ON/Espanola, NOJHL) will serve as director of operations for Canada East, while Nigel Dube (Lampman, SK/Lloydminster, AJHL) will return to the role for Canada West after helping win a gold medal in 2023.
“We are thrilled with the coaches that will lead our Canadian teams at the 2024 Junior A World Challenge,” said Scott Salmond, senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations. “Each of them is highly skilled and bring their own experience to their roles. We look forward to watching them put two competitive teams on the ice in Camrose in December.”
“We congratulate the coaches on their selections to the respective staffs of Canada East and Canada West,” said CJHL president Andy Harkness. “The opportunity to represent your country at a prestigious international hockey event such as the Junior A World Challenge is something they will truly relish.”
Fans looking to secure their seat to watch the Junior A World Challenge can choose from a variety of ticket options at HockeyCanada.ca/WJAC, with full-event ticket packages starting at $140, including fees. Mini-packages for the preliminary round and medal round are also available.
The tournament features a four-team format, with Sweden and the United States joining the Canadian entries.
TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will broadcast the bronze and gold medal games; check local listings for details.
Of the 16 gold medal games at the Junior A World Challenge, 13 have featured at least one Canadian team. Canada East will look to earn its first gold medal, having won silver eight times (2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2019, 2022, 2023) and bronze once (2008), while Canada West has won gold six times (2006, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2023), silver three times (2008, 2009, 2012) and bronze twice (2013, 2018).
For more information on Hockey Canada and the 2024 Junior A World Challenge, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow along via social media on Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok.
