Former DU Assistant Coach To Lead All-Star Team

(above) Former DU assistant coach Derek Lalond will lead Team USA

USA Hockey today announced the coaching staff for the U.S. Junior Select Team that will compete in the 2013 World Junior A Challenge next month in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. All three coaches named are from the USHL as Derek Lalonde of the Green Bay Gamblers has been named head coach and will be joined by Anthony Noreen, head coach of the Youngstown Phantoms, and Mark Abalan, assistant coach of the Sioux City Musketeers.

The World Junior A Challenge is six-team international tournament featuring the United States, Czech Republic, Russia, Switzerland, and two teams from Canada. The U.S. team is annually made up of USHL players and has dominated the tournament, winning it four of the last five years.

Derek Lalonde is currently in his third season behind the bench for the Green Bay Gamblers and already has the team off to a 3-1-2 start. During his first season in the League, he led the Gamblers to a team record 47 victories on the way to capturing the Anderson Cup for best regular season finish. The 98 points earned in the standings established a new USHL record. Lalonde then guided the team to the Clark Cup title in the playoffs.

In his second season, Lalonde again led Green Bay to a playoff berth as they finished second in the Eastern Conference with a 37-23-11 record. He currently owns an 87-33-10 regular season record in the USHL. His .708 winning percentage leads all active USHL coaches and is among the all-time League leaders. Lalonde served as assistant coach last year for the World Junior A Challenge as the U.S. Team won the tournament.