Saturday, May 29, 2010

2011 Team Pacific Staff

Press Release

BC Hockey announced May 27, 2010 the BC staff for Team Pacific that will compete at the 2011 World Under 17 Hockey Challenge in Winnipeg, Manitoba from December 28, 2010 to January 4, 2011. The announcement is a culmination of an application process led by BC Hockey Officer at Large Robin Douville.

Director of Operations – Glen Carrier (Maple Ridge, BC)

Glen has been involved with the BC Hockey High Performance Program for over 10 years, participating at all steps of the program. In 2007 he served as the Director of Operations for Team BC that competed at the Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse, Yukon. Currently he serves as the BC Provincial Scout and Coordinator of USA Scouts for the Chilliwack Bruins of the Western Hockey League (WHL).

Head Coach – Robert Dirk (Penticton, BC)

Following a successful 10 year NHL playing career, Robert has been involved with coaching at all levels of hockey. Currently he serves as a head coach at the Okanagan Hockey Academy working with its midget program. Robert resides in Penticton, BC with his wife Melia, son Jagger and daughter Aspen.

Assistant Coach – Kris Knoblauch (Cranbrook, BC)

Kris has been an assistant coach with the Kootenay Ice of the WHL since the 2007-08 season. Knoblauch helped guide the Ice to a fourth place finish in the Eastern Conference this past season. He has been involved with the BC Hockey high performance program for the past three (3) years.

Equipment Manager – Troy Clifford (Kamloops, BC)

Troy has been involved with the BC Hockey High Performance Program since 2008 and has excelled within the program. Additionally he has been heavily involved with the Kamloops Minor Hockey Association and this past season served as the Senior Athletic Trainer for the TRU Wolfpack University Hockey team of the BCIHL. In his professional life Troy has worked for BC Ambulance since January 1988 and is the Operational Paramedic Supervisor and Emergency Preparedness Coordinator in Kamloops.

Hockey Alberta recently named Blair Becker as an assistant coach and Ryan Williams as the athletic therapist to Team Pacific. Becker has been an assistant coach with the Camrose Kodiaks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League since the 2008-09 season. Williams has an extensive background in sports physiotherapy, working at a variety of levels including WHL, CIS, AJHL and AMHL.

Team Pacific is made up of players from both British Columbia and Alberta who were born in 1994. This represents the first stage of Hockey Canada's Program of Excellence. The 11 players selected from BC will be identified, evaluated, and trained through BC Hockey’s Under 17 High Performance Program, which acts as the province's talent identification and training program for player representation on Canada's national teams.

At the 2010 World Under 17 Hockey Challenge Team Pacific finished a disappointing fifth. The team lost 2-1 to the United States in the final preliminary game of the event relegating them to the 5th place game. Team Pacific has never won gold in the history of the event, but has finished second 5 out of the past 10 years.

The World Under 17 Hockey Challenge is the unofficial World Championship for this age level and the first stage for Hockey Canada to identify players for the National Under 18 Team and the World Junior Team. In addition to the five Canadian teams (Pacific, Western, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic) there will be five international teams from USA, Finland, Russia, Sweden, and the Czech Republic.

(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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