Mike Sullivan will be behind the bench for Team USA for a pair of tournaments over the next two seasons.
Sullivan on Saturday was named the head coach of the U.S. teams for the Four Nations Faceoff in February of next season and the 2026 Olympics in Italy in February of the 2025-26 season.
The Four Nations Faceoff is a new NHL-sanctioned tournament between the U.S., Canada, Finland and Sweden that begins next season and will eventually be played every four years in place of an All-Star Game.
The 2026 Olympics marks the NHL's return to the Olympics for the first time since 2014. Sullivan was previously named head coach of the U.S. team for the 2022 games in Beijing before the NHL officially pulled participating from its players and staff. The 2026 games will be Sullivan's second time behind the bench for Team USA at the Olympics, but the first as head coach. He was an assistant coach for the 2006 Olympics in Torino.
In 2021, when Sullivan was expected to coach in the 2022 games, he called he opportunity to coach in the Olympics being "part of something that's bigger than yourself."
"That's what these national tournaments represent," he said at the time. "You're representing your nation first and foremost. We have a proud nation. We hold our values dear. And so we've got a great opportunity here to kind of build that legacy and carry on that tradition. And I get emotional when I when I think about it, because it means so much to me. So it really is an honor to be part of this."
