Dave Cameron returning to Canada world junior bench after 3-year absence

Dave Cameron will be back behind the Canadian bench at the 2025 world junior hockey championship.

Hockey Canada announced Thursday that Cameron will serve as head coach as it revealed its team staff for the upcoming tournament in Ottawa.

Cameron, the 65-year-old head coach of the Ontario Hockey League's Ottawa 67's, was bench boss of the Canadian team that won the junior title in 2022. He was also an assistant coach on the 2009 squad that won gold in Ottawa.

Canada lost in the quarterfinals of the 2024 championship in Gothenburg, Sweden, following back-to-back gold medals.

The Charlottetown-born Cameron, who was raised in Kinkora, P.E.I., has coached the 67's over the past three seasons, including a record-setting 51-campaign in 2022-23 that earned him the OHL's Brian Kilrea coach of the year award.

Cameron also coached Canada to a world junior silver medal in 2011.

"Dave has won two gold medals at the world juniors and has proven to be an excellent leader of Canada's national junior team, and we are excited to have him return to coach our team as we look to reclaim gold in the nation's capital this year," Hockey Canada senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations Scott Salmond said in a news release.

Sylvain Favreau, Mike Johnston and Chris Lazary will serve as assistant coaches on a staff that includes goaltending consultant Justin Pogge and video coach James Emery.

Hockey Canada also announced that Peter Anholt will return to lead the team's management group, while three-time Stanley Cup champion and Olympic gold medallist Brent Seabrook also returns in a management role.

Ottawa is hosting the tournament for the first time since 2009, when Canada won a fifth straight title.