Habscheid named coach of...

[eatwonton]

..Canadian national team

CALGARY (CP) - Marc Habscheid was named head coach of Canada's national men's team Wednesday, agreeing with Hockey Canada to a three-year deal that ultimately will see him behind the bench at the Turin Winter Olympics in 2006.

Habscheid, who coached Canada to world junior silver in January 2003, will coach Canada through 2007, including the world hockey championships as well as the Spengler Cup, Deutschland Cup, Slovak Cup and Hungarian Cup.

With the NHL unlikely to commit to Turin because of its current labour problems, Hockey Canada needed to plan ahead. It appears Canada's Olympic team will be comprised of the best non-NHLers available, as was always the case before the NHL went to Nagano in 1998 and Salt Lake City in 2002.

Habscheid is guaranteed a spot on the coaching staff for the 2006 Olympic team, and likely the head coaching job if there's no NHL participation in Turin.

Since Hockey Canada disbanded its full-time men's team program in 2000, the governing body of hockey in Canada has had a men's coach to serve either as head coach or as an assistant on national teams for the world championship, Olympics, Spengler Cup and other tournaments.

Wayne Fleming filled that role until he joined the Philadelphia Flyers' coaching staff and was replaced by Mike Pelino. The job had been vacant since Pelino left Hockey Canada last summer.

Habscheid resigned Monday after five seasons as head coach of the Western Hockey League's Kelowna Rockets after leading the club to a Memorial Cup championship last month.

http://www.tsn.ca/canadian_hockey/ne...y.asp?id=88692

[tarver]

So is that a part-time position that leaves him open to coach a pro team too? I'm guessing no, but I can still dream that he'll join the Moose.