Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock will be named head coach of Canada's 2010 Olympic men's hockey team, and he'll be joined by an all-star lineup of assistants, according to several reports.
Ken Hitchcock, Lindy Ruff and Jacques Lemaire are expected to be named assistant coaches under Babcock when the coaching staff is officially announced Thursday.
Team Canada executive director Steve Yzerman wouldn't confirm Babcock as his choice during a Tuesday conference call announcing Yzerman's selection to the Hockey Hall of Fame, but he did say the entire coaching staff will be revealed Thursday during a press conference in Montreal.
Babcock, 46, has been a frontrunner for the head coaching position due mostly to his success with the Wings — the team for which Yzerman played 22 seasons and now serves as vice-president and alternate governor.
He already has the support of The Great One, either way.
"Being in Detroit, such a great hockey city, he understands the scenario that [the players] are under," said Wayne Gretzky, who was speaking at an Olympic sponsorship event in Vancouver on Tuesday.
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