CALGARY - If NHL players are able to participate at the upcoming Beijing Olympics — and that remains a big “if” — Canada will have a two-time Stanley Cup champion behind its bench. Hockey Canada on Monday announced Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper as the head of its provisional Olympic coaching staff for Beijing 2022, with Boston head coach Bruce Cassidy, Vegas head coach Peter DeBoer and New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz serving as assistants. He previously served as head coach of Team Canada at the 2017 IIHF World Championship, winning a silver medal, and was an assistant coach with Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. NHL players did not participate in the 2018 Pyeongchang Games after taking part in five straight Olympics. The NHL has agreed to pause play between Feb. 7 and 22, 2022, but notes talks are ongoing between the NHL Players’ Association and the International Ice Hockey Federation about whether its athletes will compete in Beijing.

Source: thestar August 09, 2021 15:44 UTC