Report: Former Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins to Coach Team Canada at Olympics

It sounds like former Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins isn’t going to be out of work for long. According to a report from Toronto Star columnist Steve Simmons, Team Canada has called on Desjardins to coach their men’s hockey team at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

Assuming Simmons’ report holds true, this won’t be Desjardins’ first go with Hockey Canada. In 1998, Hockey Canada offered Desjardins an assistant coaching position — an offer Desjardins had to decline.

Desjardins had no such qualms in 2009 when he joined Pat Quinn’s staff on the World Junior Hockey Championships as an assistant coach and helped guide them to a gold medal. In 2010, Desjardins led Canada’s junior roster to a silver medal, this time as a head coach.

Over three seasons, Desjardins guided the Canucks to one playoff appearance and two bottom three finishes. The club fired Desjardins at the end of this season after the Canucks finished second worst in the league posting a 30-43-9 record.