May 24, 2005
Kyle To Guide U.S. Junior Team
NMU bench boss gets third WJC head coaching assignment

Walt Kyle was head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team in 1992 and 1993.

USA Hockey has tabbed Northern Michigan's Walt Kyle to serve as head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team at the 2006 IIHF World Junior Championship.

The tournament, scheduled for Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Vancouver, Kelowna and Kamloops, B.C., marks the World Junior Championship head coaching assignment for Kyle. He piloted the U.S. to a bronze medal in 1992, and led the Americans to a fourth-place finish the following year.

"It's a great honor anytime you get to represent your country in a game you love," said Kyle in a prepared statement. "The World Junior Championship is a great event with the best players in the world competing, and the team that goes in the most prepared and focused will ultimately succeed."

Kyle, a Northern Michigan graduate, returned to his alma mater in 2002 and has guided the Wildcats to a 65-44-13 mark in three seasons and three straight trips to the CCHA Super Six. Last year, NMU won 17 games in CCHA play, their best league showing since posting an 18-4-0 record in 1980-81.

USA Hockey also announced that National Team Development Program coach John Hynes will be an assistant on the U.S. Junior Team staff. The former Boston University player and assistant coach, who has been with the NTDP since 1998, served as coach of the U.S. National Under-17 Team last season. He was an assistant on the U.S. squad that won the gold medal at the 2004 World Junior Championship in Finland.

The U.S. National Junior Team tryout camp will be held in August in Lake Placid, N.Y. The list of invitees to the camp will be announced next month.