ABRAMS TO COACH OF CANADA EAST
The Canadian Junior Hockey League, in partnership with Hockey Canada, announced today that Marty Abrams (photo credit - Amy Deroche/OJHL Images), head coach and general manager of the Ontario Junior Hockey League's Wellington Dukes, will be the head coach of Canada East for the 2014 World Junior A Challenge, scheduled for December 14-20, 2014 in Kindersley, Saskatchewan.
Abrams will be joined by assistant coaches Mark Grady (head coach, Smith Falls Bears, Central Canada Hockey League), Marc Lafleur (head coach, Kirkland Lake Gold Miners, Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League) and Troy Ryan (head coach and general manager, Campbellton Tigers, Maritime Hockey League).
“I am honoured to be named head coach of Canada East for this year’s World Junior A Challenge,” said Abrams. “I look forward to working with Mark, Marc and Troy in achieving our goal of winning Canada East’s first gold medal. I would also like to thank the CJHL for the opportunity to be a part of this world-class event.”
Marty Abrams, 49, will make his fourth appearance with Canada East at the World Junior A Challenge, having served as an assistant coach in 2006, and general manager in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Abrams won silver in 2006 and 2007, and bronze in 2008. He has been the head coach and general manager in Wellington for the past 13 seasons, guiding the Dukes to the OJHL championship and appearances at the RBC Cup, Canada’s National Junior A Championship, in 2003 and 2011. Abrams has more than 500 wins as a head coach and was named OJHL East Division Coach of the Year in 1999-2000 and 2001-02, and OJHL Central Division Coach of the Year in 2008-09.
Mark Grady, 51, will serve on the Canada East staff for a third time, having served as an assistant coach in 2007 and head coach in 2008, winning silver and bronze medals. Grady is entering his fourth season with Smith Falls, having guided the team to the CCHL final in 2014. Prior to coaching the Bears, Grady coached in the OHL with the Ottawa 67’s and in the CJHL with the Cumberland Grads and Nepean Raiders.
Marc Lafleur, 39, will make his second consecutive appearance with Canada East at the World Junior A Challenge, having served as an assistant coach in 2013. Named NOJHL Coach of the Year in his first season in Kirkland Lake in 2012-13, he led the Gold Miners to the NOJHL championship and a berth in the Dudley Hewitt Cup last year. Lafleur has worked as an assistant coach with the QMJHL's Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and in the NCAA with Bemidji State University. As a player, Lafleur spent two seasons with the USHL's Thunder Bay Flyers, reaching the 1995 Centennial Cup.
Troy Ryan, 42, will be an assistant coach with Canada East for the fifth time, serving in the role from 2006-09, and as general manager in 2010. Ryan is entering his second season as head coach in Campbellton, having spent the prior two seasons as head coach of St. Thomas University. He has more than a decade of coaching experience in the MHL and university hockey, winning MHL Coach of the Year and Hockey Nova Scotia Coach of the Year in 2007-08, and leading the Pictou County Crushers to an appearance at the RBC Cup in 2008.
Canada East has appeared in four of the eight gold medal games at the World Junior A Challenge, winning silver in 2006 (Yorkton/Humboldt, Sask.), 2007 (Trail/Nelson, B.C.), 2010 (Penticton, B.C.), and 2011 (Langley, B.C.), and bronze in 2008 (Camrose, Alta.). Canada East finished fourth in 2009 (Summerside, P.E.I.) and 2012 (Yarmouth, N.S.) and was sixth in 2013 (Yarmouth, N.S.)
For more information on the 2014 World Junior A Challenge, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca/wjac, or follow along through social media at www.facebook.com/wjrac and www.twitter.com/hc_wjac.
