June 18, 2012 - 6:08 PM
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Former NHL player Phil Housley will coach the United States at the 2013 world junior hockey championship in Ufa, Russia.
The South St. Paul, Minn., defenceman played 21 seasons in the NHL for Buffalo, Winnipeg, St. Louis, Calgary, New Jersey, Washington, Chicago and Toronto.
Housley had 338 goals and 894 assists for 1,232 points, which is the most by an American-born defenceman. Internationally, he won silver at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and gold at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.
He was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004 and the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 2012.
Housley has coached at Stillwater High School in Minnesota for eight seasons. He was assistant coach of the U.S. team that won bronze at the 2011 world junior championship in Buffalo and also the team that also took bronze in 2007.
The U.S. junior team seeks its third medal in four years after winning gold in 2010 and bronze the following year. The Americans finished seventh at the 2012 world junior championship in Alberta.
The world junior championship opens Dec. 26 in Ufa.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012