Dale Hunter will be back behind Canada’s bench at the world junior hockey championship.
Hockey Canada announced Thursday that the 64-year-old London Knights coach will lead the team at the 2026 tournament in Minneapolis.
Mark Hunter, Dale's brother and London's GM, will serve as a member of Canada's management group.
It will be Dale Hunter’s second time as head coach of the squad, as he also coached the team to a gold medal at the 2020 tournament.
As head coach and part-owner of the OHL’s Knights, Hunter has won five OHL titles and led the franchise to three Memorial Cup championships — 2005, 2016 and 2025. He's only the second coach in Canadian Hockey League history to have more than 1,000 wins to his credit, joining Ottawa 67’s legend Brian Kilrea.
“The first order of business for myself and (Hockey Canada executive) Scott (Salmond) was to find the best coach possible to lead our National Junior Team,” program of excellence general manager Alan Millar said in a statement. “Dale’s resume speaks for itself: three Memorial Cups, three OHL Coach of the Year awards and two international gold medals. His passion for this program runs deep, and we feel he is the best candidate to lead us to a gold medal in Minnesota.”
Hockey Canada said Mark Hunter will assist Millar and senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations Scott Salmond "with all hockey operations-related matters, including supporting the player evaluation and selection process."
"Mark led Canada to a world junior gold medal in 2020 and has built one of the premier franchises in the Canadian Hockey League, with unparalleled on-ice success and player advancement," Salmond said in the release.
Dale Hunter played 19 NHL seasons with the Quebec Nordiques, Washington Capitals and Colorado Avalanche and is the only player in league history to register more than 1,000 points and 3,000 penalty minutes.
Hunter was also the head coach of the Capitals for part of the 2011-12 season. He took over for Bruce Boudreau and led Washington to a 30-23-7 record over his 60-game stint as head coach.
He resigned after the season to return to the Knights for the 2012-13 season.
Hunter will lead a Canadian team that is coming off two straight disappointing results at the world juniors.
After losing to Czechia in the quarterfinals of the 2025 tournament, Canada has now finished outside the top four in back-to-back years for the first time since 1981.
--with files from The Canadian Press
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