A couple of well-known faces in the hockey world will be behind the bench for this year's CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in Alberta later this month.
The Canadian Hockey League announced today that famed broadcaster Ron MacLean will be the coach for Team Cherry, while former NHL goalie and current broadcaster Kelly Hrudey will lead Team Orr.
The 24th annual showcase, which is set for Wednesday, Jan. 23 in Red Deer, Alta., features the Canadian Hockey League’s top NHL Draft-eligible prospects, including Barrie Colts forward Ryan Suzuki.
Joining MacLean to coach Team Cherry are a pair of CHL alumni and former NHL stars in the province of Alberta, including former Edmonton Oilers forward Dave Hunter and Calgary Flames defenceman Robyn Regehr.
Rounding out the coaching staff for Team Orr are current Western Hockey League bench bosses Brent Sutter of the host Red Deer Rebels and Marc Habscheid of the Prince Albert Raiders.
A Red Deer native, MacLean has been part of the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast team since 1986 and is widely recognized as the host of Coach's Corner with Don Cherry. In 2014, MacLean joined Sportsnet and began hosting the newly created Rogers Hometown Hockey, which is in the midst of its fifth season.
Hrudey spent three seasons between the pipes for the Medicine Hat Tigers (1978-81) and was a WHL second-team all-star his final year. The Edmonton native was chosen 38th overall by the New York Islanders in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft, starting a 15-year career that would also take him to the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks, accumulating 677 games in the crease.
Upon retirement, Hrudey became a full-time studio analyst with Hockey Night in Canada in 1998 and joined the Sportsnet broadcast team in 2014.
