91大黄鸭 Rockets head coach Kris Mallette continues to go up the ranks of the hockey world.

On Wednesday, Oct. 2, he was named head coach for Team CHL at the inaugural CHL USA Prospects Challenge. 

The new event is a two-game series that showcases the CHL's top first-year NHL Draft-eligible prospects against USA Hockey鈥檚 National Team Development Program (NTDP) Under-18 team.

鈥淛ust really excited for the opportunity. When I got the call, I thought I was in trouble, to be honest," said Mallette. "But yeah, just really excited for this inaugural event. It鈥檚 a great showcase for the players within our league and players across the CHL. We as a staff have the opportunity to be the first to try and have some success at this event so I鈥檓 looking forward to the opportunity.鈥�

"It鈥檚 (the CHL) obviously somewhere that I've been for coming up into my 11th season as a coach and then my time as a player too, so I鈥檓 extremely happy as it鈥檚 a huge significance to be part of the first iteration of this event.鈥�

Mallette is joined by assistant coaches Gordie Dwyer (Acadie-Bathurst Titan / QMJHL) and Ryan Oulahen (North Bay Battalion / OHL). The three of them recently all led Team Canada to a third consecutive gold medal at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in August.

鈥淗aving a relationship with some of these players in a high-pressure environment I think will help because it鈥檚 built some trust between myself and those players," Mallette said. "Obviously having them know me and the way I like to coach bodes well for everybody."

"And it鈥檚 not even necessarily just this year鈥檚 Hlinka Gretzky鈥檚 team that we coached (that would allow him to jump right into it), there are some guys from previous events that I鈥檝e worked with as well. Porter Martone potentially and Malcolm Spence 鈥� some guys that I haven鈥檛 seen for a while, I think that would be good to reconnect with them and having a relationship with them already is huge.鈥�

Team CHL will be composed of 13 forwards, seven defencemen and two goaltenders and is expected to be announced at the end of October. NHL Central Scouting, the NHL鈥檚 32 teams, and CHL鈥檚 coaching staff will all play a role in selecting the team.

The inaugural event takes place on Nov. 26 and Nov. 27 in London, Ont., and November 27 in Oshawa, Ont respectively.