Dale Hunter named head coach, brother Mark gets management role with Canada juniors

Hamilton Spectator

10-07-2025

CALGARY - Dale Hunter will coach Canada's team at the 2026 world junior hockey championship while his brother Mark will join the team's management group, Hockey Canada announced Thursday.
It will be the second time the Hunters lead Canada's world junior team. Dale served as head coach and Mark was general manager when Canada won gold at the 2020 tournament in Ostrava, Czechia, defeating Russia in the final.
The Hunter brothers, along with former NHL enforcer Basil McRae, own the Ontario Hockey League's London Knights.
Dale is president and head coach, and Mark is vice-president and general manager of the Knights, who have won three Memorial Cup titles and six OHL championships since taking over operations in 2000.
Canada has won 20 gold and 35 total medals at the world junior hockey championship but is looking to rebound from a disappointing fifth-place finish at the 2025 tournament in Ottawa. The United States won gold for the second year in a row.
The 2026 world juniors are set to be held in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 10, 2025.