Les Lawton, head coach of the Concordia women’s hockey program, will head to Lecco, Italy, where he’ll serve as a consultant to the Italian women’s national team as it prepares for the B Group World Championships.
Lawton will spend two weeks (March 23-April 7) evaluating the Italian program, helping the team get ready for the championship and mentoring the Italian coaching staff. He may also assist with long-term planning and recruiting players.
“It’s an honour to be invited to work with the Italian program,” Lawton said. “I’m eager to get started. It could be the beginning of a long-term relationship.”
As soon as Lawton arrives Sunday morning, the Italian Hockey Federation will host a press conference to introduce him to the local media.
There is a lot of interest in women’s hockey in the area right now since Lecco will host the World Championship, which gets under way March 31.
Joining Italy at the championship are: Norway, Denmark, Great Britain, Netherlands and Slovakia.
Lawton is the winningest coach in women’s hockey history with a record of 501-158-63 for a winning percentage of .739. His Stinger teams have won two national championships and 14 Quebec titles. At Concordia, he has helped develop 14 Canadian and U.S. national team players.
Lawton was also the head coach of Team Canada in 1994 when the team defeated the U.S. 6-3 to win the gold medal at the World Championship in Lake Placid, N.Y.
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