Team USA announced NHL coaches John Tortorella and David Quinn would serve as assistant coaches to Mike Sullivan at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Adam Proteau reacts.
John TortorellaThe NHL world continues to prepare for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off, including Team USA.
On Wednesday, the American team announced additions to Mike Sullivan's coaching staff, which already had Minnesota Wild coach John Hynes as one assistant.
Like their Canadian rivals, they brought on NHL coaches to round out the group, including Philadelphia Flyers bench boss John Tortorella and former San Jose Sharks and New York Rangers coach David Quinn.
Tortorella and Quinn – the latter of who now serves as an assistant coach for Sullivan’s Pittsburgh Penguins – have combined more than 65 years of coaching experience.
“We’ve got a highly accomplished coaching staff leading our team and we couldn’t be more excited about the group,” Guerin said of Tortorella and Quinn. “Their experiences – both unique and shared – will be a big benefit to our country as we look to bring home a championship come February.”
In some ways, it’s particularly intriguing to see Tortorella – famous for his headstrong ways – serving underneath a divisional coaching rival in Sullivan. It used to be the other way around, with Sullivan being an assistant on Tortorella's squads with the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks.
But the chance to represent his country in the high-profile tournament, which features the Canadians, Americans, Swedish and Finnish teams, obviously appealed to Tortorella, and his motivational talents in a short period could pay off for the United States. He can give the team a wake-up call if needed, and he'll let Sullivan face the media instead as well.
Like the Canadians, the American team is relying exclusively on coaches who are currently working in some form in the NHL. Canada has Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper leading the way, with Vegas Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy, Dallas Stars coach Peter DeBoer, Vancouver Canucks coach Rick Tocchet and Dallas Stars assistant coach Misha Donskov serving as assistants.
Team Sweden and Team Finland are taking a different tact with their coaching staff at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Sweden GM Anders Lundberg, who served as GM for Sweden at the past three World Championships, picked Sam Hallam as their coach – who coached the Swedes at the past two Worlds. Meanwhile, the Finns will be coached by Antti Pennanen, the current coach of Ilves in the Liiga.
With all this brainpower behind the benches, seeing how the 4 Nations Face-Off unfolds will be fascinating. Although the Russian, Czech, German and Slovakian teams are among the countries not participating, this is the closest thing to a best-on-best tournament since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey for men's hockey. While Canada and the U.S. are likely to be favorites to win the tourney, the Finns and Swedes will give them a run for their money.
Now that the coaches and first six players on each 4 Nations Face-Off team have been identified, speculation will turn to the players who fill out each roster. We won’t get official notice of those players until later this year, when the full lineup for every group is revealed between Nov. 29 and Dec. 2.
It’s all shaping up to be a must-watch experience in Montreal and Boston when the tournament takes place from February 12 to 20, and no one can say for certain how the tournament will unfold.
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