CALGARY -- If NHL players are able to participate at the upcoming Beijing Olympics, Canada will have a two-time Stanley Cup champion behind its bench.
Hockey Canada has announced Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper as the head of its provisional Olympic coaching staff.
Boston head coach Bruce Cassidy, Vegas head coach Peter DeBoer and New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz were named as assistants.
Cooper, from Prince George, B.C., led the Lightning to their second straight Stanley Cup title last month when they defeated the Montreal Canadiens in five games.
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.
