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Jame Heward (right) on the Broncos' bench (photo by Darwin Knelsen for scbroncos.com)

Another member of the Swift Current Broncos staff is getting involved with Hockey Canada.

Assistant Coach Jamie Heward will be part of the coaching staff for Canada's three teams at the World Under 17 Hockey Challenge.

He will work as an assistant to head coach Kris Knoblauch for Team Canada Red.

"It's something that I never thought would happen a couple of years ago when I first started working with Swift Current," Heward said. "It's going to be exciting. I played with Team Canada for a long time and played in a lot of events for that group. Just to go on the other side and see how the intricacies are run from a management side is going to be exciting for me."

The former NHL defenceman played for Team Canada at both the World Hockey Championship and Spengler Cup. He spent the entire 1994-95 season playing for the national team when it was still a full-time program.

"The biggest thing is going to be giving my advice on tournaments," Heward said. "It's a totally different animal when you're in a short tournament. An 72 games season is a little bit different than having the kids for just two weeks."

"I'm going to go back on staff that I learned when I was playing for Team Canada. Playing for your country is totally different than playing for your juinor team or your club team."

After three seasons as an assistant coach in the WHL the Regina product is hoping to expand his skillset.

"There might be something I learn that helps me recognize something on-ice," Heward said. "Something that running a bench maybe a little bit differently than I do now. It could be something as small as that or something really big when I go there."

Despite being part of the staff for only one of Canada's three entries Heward expects to be involved in the procress for all of Canada's entries.

"More than just your one specific hockey team," Heward said. "The process itself is going to be a lot wider and a lot broader than that. You're going to go to coaching seminars... they're going to have a training camp where there's going to be a lot of kids there. Just trying to get noticed for further down the line with Hockey Canada."

Heward believes a job like this looks good on his resume if he wants to advance his career off the ice. He just isn't sure what his future looks like.

"The stuff I've learned from (Broncos Coach/GM Mark Lamb) has been invaluable," Heward said. "I've had no regrets and no issues accepting that job. This is another step in that direction... to make sure that I'm learning as much as I can."

"I think I would want to (be a head coach)... maybe it's developed into a managerial role rather than a coaching role. That could be the step. There's so much out there now that you could do in the game. It's hard to say and that's kind of why I want to take this next step and see where it leads me."

Broncos Associate Coach Josh Dixon was involved in both the Under 17 Hockey Challenge and the Canada Winter Games last season. Head Coach and GM Mark Lamb was on Canada's staff at the Under-18 tournament in 2011 and trainer Jamie LeBlanc has worked for Hockey Canada on several occasions.