Several Calgary Flames players have committed to play at the upcoming IIHF World Championship. According to a report from TSN’s Darren Dreger, they’re going to have some company.
Per Dreger, Flames head coach Ryan Huska is expected to be part of Canada’s coaching staff at the Worlds. He’ll reportedly be part of Dean Evason’s staff. (Evason is head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets.)
Hearing @BlueJacketsNHL head coach Dean Evason will coach Canada at the upcoming Men’s World Hockey Championship. @NHLFlames coach Ryan Huska will also be on Canada’s bench. The remainder of the staff to be determined.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) April 23, 2025
Huska, 49, just finished his second season as Flames head coach; he kept things on the rails during a tumultuous 2023-24 campaign, and helped guide the Flames to within a standings point of the playoffs this season. This will be Huska’s first trip to an international event with Team Canada since the 2012 World Juniors, where he was an assistant coach. (He was also on their staff for the 2011 World Juniors.)
Huska probably won’t get much love from the NHL Broadcasters Association in their Jack Adams Award balloting this season – and that’s not a slight on the broadcasters or Huska, but merely a reflection that several coaches did tremendous work this season. But Huska deserves his flowers for the work he did, in tandem with the Flames’ leadership group, getting his team all on one page and largely keeping them on that page for 82 games.
A winger during his playing days, Huska won three WHL Championships and three Memorial Cups as a player with the Western League’s Kamloops Blazers. After hanging up his skates after a few years playing pro, including one NHL game, Huska got into coaching.
He’s been behind a bench at a high level constantly since 2002-03, including time as a WHL assistant (five seasons), WHL head coach (seven seasons), AHL head coach (four seasons), NHL assistant (five seasons) and now an NHL head coach (two seasons). This opportunity to go to the Worlds gives him a nice reward for his work with the Flames this season, and a chance to add to his tool-set as a coach going forward.
The 2025 IIHF World Championship runs May 9-25 from Stockholm, Sweden and Herning, Denmark. The Flames will be represented by MacKenzie Weegar (Canada), Zayne Parekh (Canada), Mikael Backlund (Sweden), Rasmus Andersson (Sweden), Matt Coronato (United States) and Dan Vladar (Czechia).
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