HEADLINE

Coaches Announced for 2011 WJAC

Friday, May 6, 2011

Hockey Canada and the CJHL have announced the appointment of the head coaches for Canada West and Canada East for the 2011 World Junior A Challenge. Vernon Vipers head coach Mark Ferner will serve as the bench boss for Canada West, while Whitby Fury head coach Curtis Hodgins will take over as head coach of Canada East after serving as an assistant coach in 2010.

Ferner is in his fourth season as head coach and general manager of the BCHL's Vernon Vipers. Under Ferner, the Vipers have won back-to-back-to-back league championships, and are currently trying to win an unprecedented third consecutive National Junior A Championship. Ferner had a 16-year playing career that included stops in the NHL, AHL, WCHL, IHL and Europe, and has previous coaching experience in the WHL and WCHL.

Hodgins was named head coach of the OJHL's Whitby Fury in April 2010 after a long tenure with the Bowmanville Eagles as both a player and a coach at the Junior A and Junior C levels. During his time behind the bench in Bowmanville, the Eagles won three East Division championships, and reached the Central Canadian Hockey League final in 2009-10.