Canada is running it back for the 2026 Olympics with the coaching and support staff that won the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Assistant coaches Bruce Cassidy, Peter DeBoer, Rick Tocchet and Misha Donskov again join bench boss Jon Cooper on Team Canada, Hockey Canada announced on Monday. They helped the Canadians win three of four games at the 4 Nations Face-Off, including the championship matchup against the Americans in overtime.
Goaltending consultant David Alexander, director of performance analysis James Emery and video co-ordinator Elliott Mondou also return from the NHL's mid-season tournament for the men's Olympic squad.
"This group of coaches will provide consistency and a winning pedigree to our team, and I know our players will greatly benefit from this world-class coaching staff," Cooper said in a news release. "I look forward to working alongside all seven as we look to replicate our 4 Nations success on the Olympic stage in February."
Cooper was announced in June 2024 as the coach of Canada's men's squad heading to Milan, Italy, in 2026. He's a two-time Stanley Cup champion and won a silver medal at the 2017 World Championship. He's the longest tenured active coach in the NHL, leading the Tampa Bay Lightning since the 2012-13 season.
Cassidy won the Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights and the Jack Adams Award with the Boston Bruins in 2019-20.
Tocchet won the Jack Adams Award with the Vancouver Canucks in 2023-24 but left the team for the Philadelphia Flyers this off-season. He won the Stanley Cup twice as an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
DeBoer was fired from the Dallas Stars this off-season after losing in the Western Conference final. He won a gold medal as an assistant coach at the 2015 World Championship and 2005 World Junior Championship.
Donskov, the "eye in the sky," became Hockey Canada's vice-president of hockey operations and men's national teams coach in late June. He'll serve as the head coach of Canada's World Championship team and as an associate coach with the world junior squad on top of his Olympics role. He won the Cup in 2023 with Vegas, the Spengler Cup in 2019, the World Cup of Hockey in 2016, the World Championship and world juniors in 2015, the Ivan Hlinka Memorial in 2012 and the women's worlds in 2011.
Alexander won the Cup as the St. Louis Blues' goaltending coach. Emery has won gold at the Olympics with the women's squad, the world juniors, World Championship for the men's and women's squads, Spengler Cup and Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Mondou won world juniors gold in 2022.
Hockey Canada also announced the support staff for the men's squad competing in Milan from Feb. 12 to 22 at the latest. They include sport physiotherapist Kent Kobelka, Athletic therapist Domenic Nicoletta, massage therapists Marcin Goszczynski and Andy Huppo, physican Dr. Ian Auld, equipment managers John Forget and Darren Granger, strength and conditioning coach Sean Young, mental performance consultant Dr. Ryan Hamilton, hockey operations managers Mitchell Furlotte and Kurt Keats, hockey ops co-ordinator Miah Armitage, media relations VP Sean Kelso and media relations manager Spencer Sharkey.
The previously announced management staff feature GM Doug Armstrong, assistant GMs Julien BriseBois, Jim Nill and Don Sweeney and director of player personnel Kyle Dubas.
The first six players named to Team Canada in June are Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Sam Reinhart, Brayden Point and Cale Makar.
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