As reported first by TSN colleague Darren Dreger on Tuesday, Team Canada will unveil its coaching staff Thursday in Toronto and, not surprisingly, Mike Babcock will be back at the helm.
Pretty hard to say no to the guy who coached the country to gold in two straight Olympics, but there was certainly a lot of sentiment out there for three-time Stanley Cup champion Joel Quenneville.
And so, why not both?
We’ll find out more after it’s official on Thursday, but Team Canada general manager Doug Armstrong deserves a lot of credit for incorporating both Quenneville and Babcock in the team's five-man staff. Claude Julien also returns, and two other coaches will be unveiled Thursday.
It might surprise some that Quenneville would be willing to take on a lesser role as assistant on Babcock’s staff, but I think the Blackhawks coach made a wise investment in his international future.
Who’s to say Babcock will want to coach in future Olympics? Or that Hockey Canada won’t feel at some point it’s time for a new head coach?
Either way, by getting his feet wet even as an assistant, Quenneville has put himself in the queue the next time Team Canada looks for a coach for the Olympics. So smart move here, Quenneville.