Hockey Canada announces full coaching staff for 2026 Winter Olympics

New York Times

3 days ago

The entire coaching staff of Canada's gold-medal team from this year's 4 Nations Face-Off is set to return at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, ensuring continuity behind the Canadian bench for the first Winter Games with NHL players since 2014.
Assistant coaches Bruce Cassidy, Pete DeBoer, Rick Tocchet, Misha Donskov and Dave Alexander will all be back, Hockey Canada announced on Monday. Along with head coach Jon Cooper, the staff for Canada's national men's hockey team brings more than 50 combined seasons of NHL head coaching experience.
Four assistant coaches are joining Jon Cooper's staff for #MilanoCortina2026. 🇨🇦
Quatre entraîneurs adjoints épauleront Jon Cooper à Milan et à Cortina en 2026. 🇨🇦
🍁 Bruce Cassidy🍁 Peter DeBoer🍁 Rick Tocchet🍁 Misha Donskov@TeamCanada | @EquipeCanada
— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) July 21, 2025
Cassidy has led the Vegas Golden Knights for the past three seasons, which includes a Stanley Cup victory in 2022-23. DeBoer most recently served as coach of the Dallas Stars before his firing in June; he has been to the Western Conference final in six of the last eight years, with three different teams. Tocchet is entering his first season as coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, following three seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, highlighted by a Jack Adams Award-winning year in 2023-24.
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Donskov was hired by Hockey Canada as vice president of hockey operations in June after two seasons as an assistant under DeBoer in Dallas and a successful Cup run under Cassidy in Vegas. The national team's goaltending consultant, Alexander, is entering his ninth season as goaltending coach for the St. Louis Blues, having coached Jordan Binnington, who backstopped Canada to the 4 Nations championship, both with the Blues and on the international stage. The general manager of Canada's Olympic team, Doug Armstrong, occupies the same role for St. Louis.
The staff also includes director of performance analysis James Emery and video coordinator Elliott Mondou. It was chosen by Cooper, who has won two Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning, alongside Armstrong and other members of the Hockey Canada management team.
Canada has already announced its first six players for the Olympic roster in Milan Cortina, where it will look to pick up from a gold-medal performance at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, the last with NHL participation. Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Brayden Point and Sam Reinhart will all be in the lineup, but the final preliminary rosters, consisting of 22 skaters and three goalies, don't have to be submitted until December 31.
(Photo of Pete DeBoer, Bruce Cassidy, Jon Cooper and Rick Tocchet at the 4 Nations Face-Off: Winslow Townson / Imagn Images)