DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – Detroit administration and players will be partaking in the 2023 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships from May 12-28 in Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Lativa. One front office, two coaches, and two players are committed to the championship tournament right now.
Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman will be Team Canada’s associate general manager. This will be his fourth stint as the general manager as he also held the same position in 2007, 2008, and 2013. He has won one gold medal in 2007 and a silver medal in 2008.
Head coach Derek Lalonde was named an assistant coach for the U.S. Men’s National Team. This will be his first time on the team as a coach. He was the U.S. Junior Select Team head coach in the World Junior A Challenge in 2013 while being the assistant in 2012.
Assistant coach Alex Tanguay heads to the international coaching level for the first time for Team Canada as an assistant coach. The last time he was on the IIHF national stage was in 1999 as a player at the Junior Championships.
Playing in the championships will be Lucas Raymond for Sweden and Joe Veleno for Canada. Olli Maatta (Finland) said he is planning on playing along with Jake Walman but he will have to choose between Canada and the U.S. with his dual citizenship. American players Dylan Larkin and Andrew Copp, Germany’s Moritz Seider, and Finland’s Ville Husso have opted out and will not play.
Raymond said, “There’s always a big honor playing for your national team and your country. I feel really good and I’m very excited and I want to keep playing.”
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