Hockey Canada named Gerard Gallant head coach for next month's 2021 IIHF World Championship on Wednesday.

Gallant will be joined behind the bench by assistants Mike Kelly and André Tourigny for the tournament, which will run from May 21-June 6 in Riga, Latvia. 

The coaching staff will be looking to lead Canada to their first gold medal at the event since 2016. The team lost to Sweden in the gold-medal game in both 2017 and 2019.

“We are fortunate to lean on the professional and executive experience that all three gentlemen will bring as Canada gets set for the IIHF World Championship in Latvia,” chief executive officer of Hockey Canada Tom Renney said. “Gerard and Mike have worked together both at the NHL and junior level and have an understanding of what it takes to compete and win. André complements them with his extensive coaching résumé and recent experience at the World Juniors. We believe we have selected a group that will build on each other’s strengths and provide exceptional leadership, with input from Roberto and the Olympic management group, as our team prepares to compete for a gold medal.”

Gallant most recently served as head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights, guiding the team to the Staley Cup Final in the franchise's inaugural season in 2018, when he was named the recipient of the Jack Adams Award.

The 57-year-old has a career record of 270-216-4-51 in 541 career NHL games behind the bench with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers and Golden Knights. On the international stage, Gallant served as assistant coach with Team Canada at the IIHF World Championship in 2007 and 2017, winning gold and silver. 

Kelly returns to Hockey Canada after almost two decades, having last served as an assistant coach for the program at the IIHF World Junior Championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002. He served as an assistant coach to Gallant in both Vegas (2017-20) and Florida (2014-17).

Tourigny is coming off a silver-medal performance as head coach of Team Canada at the World Juniors in January after serving as an assistant coach at the tournament on three previous occasions.

The head coach of the Ottawa 67’s recently signed a one-year contract with Hockey Canada that will see him serve as head coach for the 2022 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Alberta and at the 2022 IIHF World Hockey Championship in Finland. He will also be an assistant coach for Canada at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.

The coaching staff was selected by Canada’s management group, made up of general manager Roberto Luongo, assistant GM Shane Doan and Hockey Canada senior vice-president of national teams Scott Salmond.

Canada will open the 2021 Worlds on Friday, May 21 at Arena Riga against host Latvia. Canada will also face Italy, Finland, Germany, Kazakhstan, Norway and the United States in the preliminary round.