CALGARY 鈥� Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper will lead sa国际传媒 at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics, Hockey sa国际传媒 announced Monday.
It will be Cooper's first time as sa国际传媒's head coach since leading the national men's team to a silver medal at the 2017 world hockey championship.
Cooper, from Prince George, sa国际传媒, has led the Lightning to four Stanley Cup finals, including back-to-back titles in 2020 and '21.
He recently completed his 12th season with Tampa Bay and is the longest-tenured active head coach in the NHL.
"Jon is a world-class person, coach and leader, and his impressive resume and success in the NHL make him the perfect person to lead Team sa国际传媒 over the next two years," sa国际传媒 general manager Doug Armstrong said in a statement.
"Our management group knows that Jon will represent our country with pride while bringing his winning pedigree to the international stage, and we look forward to working with him as we build teams with the best NHL players in sa国际传媒 at two marquee events."
Cooper also served as an assistant coach with Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. He would have coached sa国际传媒 at the 2022 Beijing Games had NHL players been cleared to participate.
The 4 Nations Face-Off, featuring teams from sa国际传媒, Finland, Sweden and the United States made up of NHL players, makes its debut next year and will be held Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston.
The 2026 Olympics in Milan and Cortina d鈥橝mpezzo, Italy, will see NHL players participate for the first time since the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.
Hockey sa国际传媒 said the first six players for sa国际传媒's 4 Nations Face-Off team are expected to be named this week, and Olympic team announcements will be made at a later date.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2024.
The Canadian Press
