Two fired NHL GMs tagged to run Canadian team for upcoming World Championships in Slovakia

Hard to believe, but the IIHF World Championships are just around the corner. Good picks?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Two fired NHL GMs tagged to run Canadian team for upcoming World Championships in Slovakia
Zuma Press

It’s hard to believe given the long winter that most North Americans have had to endure this past season, but the IIHF World Championships are just around the corner. This year’s edition of the annual tournament will take place May 10th - 26th in Bratislava and Košice, Slovakia. 

NHL insider Darren Dreger of TSN confirmed this morning that Hockey Canada has chosen a management team of Ron Hextall, Ron Francis and Jason Botterill to run the nation’s team. According to Dreger, the group will work together as a three-man general manager team.

Check it out:





Botterill, of course, is the only one of the three men who currently holds down a management position in the NHL, having served as the Buffalo Sabres GM for the past two seasons. Both Hextall and Francis were fired from their long-time positions with the Philadelphia Flyers and Carolina Hurricanes, respectively, in the past calendar year. The Francis firing, in particular, seemed to come out of nowhere and it’s been reported that Francis and new Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon didn’t exactly see eye to eye. As for Hextall, most expected the Flyers to make a change behind the bench and replace Dave Hakstol, which they did eventually make, but few figured that Hextall would be shown the door first.

In any case it’ll be good to see these two veteran NHL faces back around the game again.