Burnett to coach with national junior puck squad
Jul. 21, 2010

MONTREAL -- Belleville Bulls head coach George Burnett, a McGill University physical education graduate, has been named as an assistant coach with the Canadian national men's hockey team for the 2011 world junior championship in Buffalo, N.Y.

He joins a list of other McGill grads who have had coaching stints with the national junior program, including Mike Babcock, Real Paiement and Guy Boucher.

Burnett, who is also the general manager of the Ontario Hockey League club, will work with head coach Dave Cameron of the OHL's Mississauga St. Michael's Majors, plus assistants Ryan Huska (Kelowna, WHL) and Andre Tourigny (Rouyn-Noranda, QMJHL).

The 48-year-old native of Port Perry, Ont., replaces Bob Boughner, who stepped down recently after taking a job as an assistant with the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets.

Burnett skated for the McGill Redmen from 1982 to 1984 and was the team's first-ever All-Canadian. He has previously coached Niagara Falls, Oshawa and Guelph of the OHL and was also behind the bench for the American Hockey League's Cape Breton Oilers, winning the Calder Cup championship in 1994. At the age of 32, he became the third-youngest head coach in NHL history when he was appointed to guide the Edmonton Oilers in the 1994-95 season.

Burnett, who later served as an assistant coach with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, will also act as bench boss of the Canadian national under-18 team that will compete at the 2010 Ivan Hlinka memorial tournament in both Slovakia and the Czech Republic, Aug. 10-14.