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Canada Adds NHL Coaches to 4 Nations Staff

Team Canada has added three NHL head coaches to their coaching staff for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off.

Nick Horwat

Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports, James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports, Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
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NHL teams may be preparing for the 2024-25 season, but international squads are also building for multiple upcoming international events. Players from the NHL will return to international play with the 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025 and later participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics.

While rosters are still far from being fully announced, international squads are putting together their front office and coaching staff. Team Canada announced four assistant coaches to fill out the rest of their coaching group.

NHL head coaches Bruce Cassidy of the Vegas Golden Knights, Peter DeBoer of the Dallas Stars, Rick Tocchet of the Vancouver Canucks, and Stars assistant Misha Donskov will fill the rest of Team Canada’s coaching staff.

Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning was named head coach of Team Canada in late June.

Cassidy, DeBoer, and Tocchet are three of the NHL’s best coaches of the past few seasons. Cassidy led the Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup in 2023 and holds a 69-51-17 record over the last two years with Vegas.

With 673 career games as an NHL bench boss, Cassidy has a 388-206-9-70 record. He won the Jack Adams Award as the league’s top coach in 2020 with the Boston Bruins.

DeBoer has been a head coach in the NHL since 2008 and has coached 1,179 career games, with a record of 612-421-146. Despite never winning the Stanley Cup, DeBoer has reached the Cup final twice: once with the New Jersey Devils in 2012 and again with the San Jose Sharks in 2016.

Tocchet is the reigning Adam’s Trophy winner after a successful season with the Canucks. In under two full seasons in Vancouver, Tocchet has turned the Canucks into a Cup contender. They notched a 50-23-9 record and led the Pacific Division in the 2023-24 season.

As of right now, this group of coaches will lead Team Canada at just the 4 Nations Face-Off.

According to a release from Hockey Canada, the assistant coaches were selected by the front-office staff of general manager Don Sweeney, associate GM Jim Nill, assistant GM Julien BriseBois, and director of player personnel Kyle Dubas.

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Nick Horwat
NICK HORWAT

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