Predators Head Coach John Hynes To Join U.S. Olympic Hockey Staff

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Nashville Predators head coach John Hynes will join the United States Olympic hockey team as an assistant coach for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing. The invitation is the first time Hynes has been selected by USA Hockey to attend the Olympics.

“To have the opportunity to represent your country is always special, and it’s truly the best-on-best tournament,” says Hynes. “The Olympic Games, to be part of it as an athlete or coach or trainer in any way is a special opportunity. I’m just tremendously excited and grateful for the opportunity and really excited to work with the staff and the management, but also the opportunity to work with all the top players in the United States. They’re not only excellent players, they’re highly motivated people, and trying to compete for a gold medal at the highest level is invigorating.”

Hynes is entering his third season and second full season with the Preds. Hynes served for parts of five seasons as head coach of the New Jersey Devils. He came to New Jersey after six seasons with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins of the AHL where we was named the 2011 AHL Coach of the Year, accumulating a 231-126-27 record.

A native of Rhode Island, Hynes spent nine seasons on the coaching staff of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, serving as an assistant from 1998-2000 and 2001-02 and as head coach from 2003-09. While with the NTDP, Hynes claimed four Under-18 World Championship medals–two of them gold–and he also served as an assistant coach for the United States at the 2004 World Junior Championship, where the Americans won gold for the first time and earned their first medal in the event since 1997.

“We’ve got a great coaching staff in place,” says Stan Bowman, general manager of the 2022 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team. “It’s a group that knows what it takes to be successful, and through their unique and varied backgrounds will help put our team in the best position to win the gold medal.”

This follows last week’s announcement that NHL players will be eligible to play at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. So far, no Predators players have been selected to the US Olympic team. The final roster will be finalized by mid-October before the Olympic games which will take place from Feb. 3-22.

Steven Boero
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