CALGARY — Arizona Coyotes coach André Tourigny will lead Canada’s coaching staff at the upcoming Men’s Ice Hockey World Championships in Tampere, Finland and Riga, Latvia, Hockey Canada announced Friday.

Tourigny, a native of Nicolet, Que., was Claude Julien’s replacement at last year’s tournament when Canada lost the final at home to the Finns 4-3 in overtime.

Assistant coaches will be Ottawa Senators coach DJ Smith, Detroit Red Wings assistant coach Alex Tanguay and Canada Women’s head coach Troy Ryan.

Ryan is currently at the Women’s World Hockey Championship in Brampton, Ontario where the Maple Leaf take on Switzerland in the semifinals on Saturday.

Though his focus is on the women’s team for now, he says he’s very excited to take advantage of this opportunity.

“A potential opportunity came up and (Hockey Canada) thought I would do it,” he said. I think it’s going to be a great experience and I hope to contribute as much as I do with the women’s program and help Canada win a gold medal at the Men’s World Championships.”

Ryan says he views every training opportunity as “the most amazing thing happening right now” rather than viewing events as milestones or stages in his career.

“If I’m on the World Cup team, that will be the most important thing for me at this time. Just like now, this World Cup is the most important thing for me in my career,” he explained.

“I’ve never thought of these as steps or stages, I’m just trying to do my best for this program at some point.”

Doug Armstrong, general manager of the St. Louis Blues, is the general manager of the men’s team.

The Canadian team will hold a five-day training camp in Budapest, Hungary from May 5th before kicking off the World Cup against hosts Latvia on May 12th.

Canada also meet Slovenia, Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Norway and Czechoslovakia in the preliminary round before the final, which takes place on 28 May.