Niedermayer teams up with ex-Canucks coach Travis Green on Team Canada coaching staff: report
Travis Green is getting back behind the bench, as Team Canada’s entry at the Spengler Cup will have at least two familiar faces coaches on staff.
The former Vancouver Canucks bench boss has been chosen as Canada’s head coach for the tournament, according to a report from TSN’s Darren Dreger. Scott Niedermayer will be one of the team’s assistant coaches, according to Dreger, while Shane Doan will serve as general manager.
Sources say Team Canada has added Hall of Famer Scott Niedermayer to its Spengler Cup staff. Niedermayer will help manage Canada’s D.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) November 28, 2022
Team Canada is gearing up for the Spengler Cup. Shane Doan will act as GM, while Travis Green will handle head coaching duties.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) November 23, 2022
The Spengler Cup is an annual tournament in Davos, Switzerland which first began in 1923. This year’s tournament takes place December 26-31.
Canada’s entry to the tournament typically consists of Canadians playing professionally in Europe.
Green has been out of work since December 5, 2021, when he was fired during his fifth season as Canucks head coach and replaced by Bruce Boudreau. Niedermayer has three years of assistant coaching experience with the Anaheim Ducks and is currently a senior advisor with the franchise.
The 2022-23 season is the first that Green began without a full-time coaching gig since prior to joining the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks in 2010.
Green and Niedermayer were briefly teammates during their playing careers when Green joined a Niedermayer-captained Ducks team for half a season in 2006-07.
This will be the second straight year a former Canucks coach has worked behind the bench for Canada at the Spengler Cup, as Nolan Baumgartner did the same shortly after being let go in December last year.
Baumgartner went on to represent Canada as an assistant coach at the 2022 Olympics and IIHF World Championship, as well as head coach of Canada’s team at the U18 World Championship.
Green’s longtime assistant, Baumgartner is currently an assistant coach with the Manitoba Moose, the AHL affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets.