Bill Peters named head coach of Team Canada for 2018 IIHF World Championship

Mike Yeo to serve as associate coach; Bob Boughner to serve as assistant

CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada announced the Team Canada coaching staff for the 2018 IIHF World Championship, scheduled for May 4-20 in Copenhagen and Herning, Denmark.

Bill Peters (Three Hills, Alta./Carolina, NHL) has been named head coach of Canada’s National Men’s Team, the second time he will serve in the role, while Mike Yeo (North Bay, Ont./St. Louis, NHL) will serve as associate coach and Bob Boughner (Windsor, Ont./Florida, NHL) as assistant coach.

The coaching staff was selected by members of the management group announced in late March; co-general managers Sean Burke (Windsor, Ont./Montreal, NHL) and Martin Brodeur (Montreal/St. Louis, NHL) along with Scott Salmond (Creston, B.C.), vice-president of hockey operations and national teams with Hockey Canada.

“Canada has always managed to bring together elite-level coaches and players and we’re again fortunate to be led by an experienced coaching staff for this year’s world championship,” said Burke. “This is an exciting event and we look forward to representing Canada on the international stage with the goal of bringing home a gold medal next month,” added Brodeur.

Peters helped Canada to the championship at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey while serving as an assistant coach. He captured a gold medal as head coach of Canada’s National Men’s Team at the 2016 IIHF World Championship and also won a gold medal as an assistant coach in 2015. Peters’ coaching accolades also include a gold medal from the 2008 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament, where he was head coach of Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team, and a silver medal as an assistant coach with Team Pacific at the 2005 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. The native of Three Hills, Alta., just completed his fourth season as head coach in Carolina.

Yeo was an assistant coach at the 2016 IIHF World Championship in Russia, where he helped guide Canada to a gold medal. He was named head coach of the St. Louis Blues in February 2017, after joining the team as an associate coach on June 13, 2016. Prior to St. Louis, Yeo spent five seasons as head coach of the Minnesota Wild. He also spent one season as head coach of the American Hockey League’s Houston Aeros, reaching the Calder Cup Final in 2011. Yeo served as an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2005-10, winning the Stanley Cup in 2009 and reaching the final the previous season. He also spent six seasons as an assistant coach with Pittsburgh’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Boughner coached Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team at the 2009 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament, going undefeated on the way to a gold medal. He just finished his first year as a head coach with the Florida Panthers after spending three years as an NHL assistant; two with San Jose and one with Columbus. Boughner spent eight seasons as head coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s Windsor Spitfires, guiding the team to two Memorial Cup championships, and was twice named OHL and CHL coach of the year. As a player, Boughner played 620 games over 10 NHL seasons with Buffalo, Calgary, Carolina, Colorado, Nashville and Pittsburgh.

Canada opens the 2018 IIHF World Championship on Friday, May 4 against the United States in Herning, Denmark. Preliminary-round games wrap up on May 15 and during that time, Canada will also face off against the host Danes, Finland, Germany, South Korea, Latvia and Norway. The bronze- and gold-medal games will take place on Sunday, May 20.

TSN and RDS, Hockey Canada’s official broadcast partners will carry 64 and 31 games, respectively. TSN Radio will also broadcast all of Canada’s games; check your local listings for schedule and network details.

Team Canada has won gold at two of the last three IIHF World Championships, going undefeated during the 2015 tournament in the Czech Republic and shutting out Finland in the gold-medal game in 2016 in Russia. Last year, Canada skated to silver after falling to Sweden in the gold-medal game in Cologne, Germany.

Since 1931, Canada has won the world championship 20 times – not counting the years when the Olympic Winter Games gold medallist was also considered world champion. Canada has also collected 12 silver and six bronze medals in that timespan.

For more information on Canada’s National Men’s Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.