Team Cherry/Orr Assistant Coaches Named

Press Release

Toronto, ON – The Canadian Hockey League in association with Sportsnet, the Halifax Mooseheads Hockey Club, and Home Hardware Stores Limited, today announced the Assistant Coaches for the 2013 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game to be played January 16 at the Halifax Metro Centre.

As announced today on HOCKEY CENTRAL @ Noon, Sportsnet’s popular hockey analysts Nick Kypreos and Doug MacLean are taking their grudges away from the broadcast studio and are bringing them behind the bench when they go head-to-head at the 2013 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.  Former NHL player and Stanley Cup champion Kypreos will be assisting former Jack Adams winner and head coach Don Cherry as a part of Team Cherry, while MacLean, a former NHL head coach and general manager, will join Team Orr led by head coach and former Stanley Cup champion Mike McPhee.

Behind the bench for Team Cherry will also be Hockey Hall of Fame member Brian Kilrea and his long-time Ottawa 67’s assistant Bert O’Brien.  Kilrea won a CHL record 1,193 games in 32 years with the 67’s capturing MasterCard Memorial Cup titles in 1984 and 1999.  O’Brien coached alongside Kilrea for 23 seasons retiring in 2009, the same year he received the OHL’s Bill Long Award for Distinguished Service.  Joining McPhee and MacLean on Team Orr will also be Halifax Mooseheads Head Coach Dominique Ducharme.  In his second season behind the Mooseheads’ bench, Ducharme’s club is first in the QMJHL standings with a record of 28-3-1-1 through 33 games.

In addition, support staffs for the 2013 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game will include Athletic Therapist Graham Black of the Moncton Wildcats and Equipment Manager Pat Villeneuve of the Victoriaville Tigres joining Team Cherry, while Athletic Therapist Diane Ouimet and Equipment Manager Chris MacDonald both of the host Mooseheads will work with Team Orr.

(Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)