Victoria's Lowry to coach Canada at 2016 WJC

Dave Lowry was named coach of Canada for the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship, Hockey Canada announced Monday.

Lowry, the coach of the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League, won a gold medal as an assistant coach for Canada at the 2015 WJC.

"We're going to continue to build on the momentum that we generated in 2015," Lowry said. "The mindset and mandate moving forward will be we're going to once again look to take the best players and we're going to make the players buy into playing the game a certain way and that'll be our way."

Assisting Lowry will be Dominique Ducharme, coach of the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League; Martin Raymond, coach of the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL and an assistant on the 2015 WJC team; and D.J. Smith, coach of the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League.

"We look at our staff that we put together and we value experience," said Scott Salmond, vice president of hockey operations and national teams for Hockey Canada. "International experience and winning. Whether that's with your club team or the national program, it's the same things. Dave's a winner with his club team, he's proven to be a winner with our national junior team. So he was an obvious choice for us."

The 2016 WJC will be held Helsinki, Finland from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5, 2016. Salmond said a summer evaluation camp would be held in Calgary, with Canada playing games against Russia and the Czech Republic.

In addition, Kelly McCrimmon, coach of the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL, was named coach for Canada for the 2015 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup. McCrimmon's assistants will be Sheldon Keefe, coach of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the OHL, and Darren Rumble, coach of the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL.

"It's not only a great honor but a chance to work with elite-level players," McCrimmon said. "A chance to work with good coaches and an opportunity to get better. Really pleased and honored to be able to accept the position here today."

Follow Adam Kimelman on Twitter: @NHLAdamK