CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada has hired Brad McEwen (Whitewood, Sask.) – most recently a western Canadian amateur scout for the Calgary Flames – as its Program of Excellence head scout.

McEwen, whose hockey background includes scouting, coaching, and management roles for the better part of two decades with the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat Tigers and Swift Current Broncos, will lead the player evaluation and selection process for Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence alongside regional scouts Carl Bouchard (Quebec), Barclay Branch (Ontario), Barclay Parneta (West), Kevin Mitchell (Atlantic), and Darrell Woodley (Ontario) at the under-17 level, and with input from coaches and general managers from across the Canadian Hockey League for the under-18 and under-20 levels.

The hiring comes on the heels of the Buffalo Sabres’ announcement that Ryan Jankowski (Calgary, Alta.), Hockey Canada’s director of player personnel, was joining the Club as director of amateur scouting.

“Firstly, on behalf of Hockey Canada, I want to congratulate Ryan and thank him for his leadership and commitment to our teams’ and players’ success since joining our group in 2013,” said Scott Salmond, vice-president of hockey operations and men’s national teams. “We’re all looking forward to working with Brad, who hits the ground running this week with our Ivan Hlinka selection camp and National Junior Team development camp both underway. Brad brings a wealth of hockey experience and familiarity with both our POE program and the players within it. He’s a tremendous addition to our team.”

McEwen, who was awarded the Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy as the 2001-02 WHL executive of the year, will work through a transition with Jankowski to select Canada’s 2017 National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team, which will compete at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup in Breclav, Czech Republic, and Bratislava, Slovakia, Aug. 7-12.

He then takes over the reins as head scout with an eye to fielding the best in Canadian talent at the 2017 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, B.C., in November, the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo, N.Y., in December, and the 2018 IIHF U18 World Championship next spring.

For more information on Hockey Canada and the Program of Excellence, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow along via social media onFacebook,Twitter, and Twitter.com/HC_Men.