Joe Sacco will lead Team USA at the World Championships despite poor recent form with the Avalanche. (Tony Ding/Icon SMI)

By Allan Muir

If you listen to Jean-Sebastien Giguere, his Colorado Avalanche teammates have been making off-season plans for weeks.

Now his coach has a trip of his own to look forward to.

Joe Sacco, coming off his third straight playoff DNQ with the Avs, has been tabbed by USA Hockey to helm Team USA at the upcoming World Championships.

Sacco is a veteran of the USA program, having served as an assistant coach at the 2009 and 2010 World Championships and skating for Team USA at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville.

Sweden and Finland are co-hosting this year’s event. The Americans, who are playing in a group based in Helsinki, will face Austria in their opener on May 4.

Roster decisions are still at least 10 days away, but it’s expected that Sacco will be guiding a young team that should see several NCAA players skating alongside NHL vets such as Paul Stastny, Matt Carle, Drew Stafford and Zach Bogosian.

Fans and media in Denver are lining up to drive Joe Sacco to the airport after another disappointing campaign for the Avs.

Boston’s Brad Marchand has put himself in the mix for a roster spot with Team Canada. (Fred Kfoury/Icon SMI)

By Allan Muir

Safe to say, yesterday’s GM meetings in Toronto achieved little of note. They made some headway in the effort to further shrink the size of goalie equipment — although really, how much smaller can it get before we recognize the goalies themselves aren’t getting any smaller and we need to take a serious look at increasing the size of the nets? They moved toward increased use of video review in the shootout to determine if forward motion has been derailed and to double-check high-sticking calls.

Surprising they had time to get all that done and still eat lunch…

But even if they failed to get it together on much-needed items like hybrid icing and the coach’s challenge, the trip to Hogtown was hardly a loss, especially from the Olympic perspective.

Both the American (yesterday) and Canadian (today) brain trusts met to further discussions ahead of Sochi. And with fans waiting for the NHL and NHLPA to commit to the 2014 games, any news/rumors that come out of those gatherings will be welcome.

Steve Yzerman, the executive director of the Canadian men’s team, convened today with his management team — St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong, Detroit GM Kenny Holland, Edmonton Oilers president Kevin Lowe, Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland and Hockey Canada vice president Brad Pascall — to discuss players contending for roster spots. Although it’s thought that as many as eight forwards and five defenseman are inked in, there’s plenty of action on the fringes that the group will have to ponder.

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Ryan Miller, the 2010 Olympic tournament MVP, will return, but will he be the No. 1? (Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

The opening of the Sochi Games is just a year away, and while there’s still no formal agreement that NHL players will skate in the men’s hockey tournament, all signs point in that direction and league officials are to meet with the IIHF on Feb. 14 and 15 to discuss the matter.

SARAH KWAK: Ovechkin, Russia thirsting for redemption

Coming off a surprising silver medal performance in 2010, Team USA will ice a competitive squad that is stacked in net, young and mobile on the blueline and aggressive, if not particularly deep, up front.

Here’s how we see Team USA lining up in Russia.

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Forward Jason Zucker, Team USA’s captain, will be playing in his third WJC tournament. (Sergei Grits/AP)

By Stu Hackel

The best hockey of any season is the Stanley Cup playoffs, but not too far behind is the World Junior Championship, the great international tournament that begins every year on the day after Christmas.

Canada, the U.S., Sweden and Russia are considered the favorites in this year’s 10-country tourney, which will be played in Alberta, both Edmonton and Calgary.

The WJC provides a great chance for fans to see many NHL stars of tomorrow perform in a high-pressure environment. Not only are they playing for the glory of their home countries, they’re also trying to impress pro scouts who jam the arenas to get a better look at their prospects.

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