Sudbury Wolves coach Scott Barney to lead Canada White at U17 challenge
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Sudbury Wolves head coach Scott Barney is headed back to the international stage, this time for the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
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Hockey Canada announced its coaches on Tuesday for both the U17 challenge, to be held in Truro, N.S. from Oct. 31 to Nov. 8, and the U18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, to be staged in Czechia and Slovakia from Aug. 11 to 16.
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Barney, a 46-year-old native of Oshawa, will serve as head coach for Canada White, while Ryan McDonald of the Prince Albert Raiders will be head coach for Canada Red.
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'Any time you're able to represent your country on this stage and coach the elite U17 kids in all of Canada, it's just a great challenge,' said Barney, reached later on Tuesday evening. 'And to represent the Wolves as an organization and the city, I'm excited this week to get going with the camp.'
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Eighty players will gather in Oakville, Ont. for a national development camp, running July 19-23.
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It won't be Barney's first time representing his home nation as a coach. Prior to joining the Wolves last year, he led Canada West to gold at the 2023 World Junior A Challenge, also held in Truro.
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'You have the ability to work with the best of the best and you form a team in a tournament atmosphere,' Barney said. 'Working with different staff from all over Canada, you get to know them inside and out, what makes them tick, and you get to know some of these players personally. That's important, as well, and you can use that when you're coaching your players back home and vice versa.'
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Camp participants will include some of the top prospects for many OHL clubs, selected in the early rounds of the draft this past April. A roster, divided into four teams, is to be released this week.
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'You get to see their ability to adapt quickly,' Barney said. 'At the World Junior A Challenge, we ended up changing our systems halfway through the tournament and won the gold medal.
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'The players and the whole coaching staff, you're all in for the time you're there, and obviously, your end goal is to win a gold medal.'
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Barney joined the Wolves in June of last year, following a successful six-year run with the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, and led the local OHLers to a record of 32-31-5-0.
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Prior to his move behind the bench, Barney won an OHL title with the Peterborough Petes in 1996, then embarked on a lengthy professional career that included parts of three seasons in the NHL and multiple championships overseas.
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