Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan has been named the head coach of Team USA for the 2025 Four Nations Face-Off and the 2026 United States Men’s Olympic Hockey Team, it was announced today by USA Hockey.
The 2025 Four Nations Face-Off is an international tournament with NHL players from the U.S., Canada, Finland and Sweden that will be played from Feb. 12-20, 2025. The tournament will take place in two yet-to-be-named North America cities – one in the U.S. and one in Canada. The 2026 Olympic Games will be held from Feb.6-22, 2026 in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The 56-year-old Sullivan was named head coach of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton prior to the 2015-16 season, and guided the American Hockey League team to a 19-5-0-0 mark in 24 games, before being named head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins on December 12, 2015.
Sullivan will be representing his native country at the international level in a coaching capacity for the fifth time. He previously served as an assistant coach at the 2006 Olympics. He has also represented his home country as head coach of Team USA at the 2007 World Championship and as an assistant coach at the ‘08 World Championship and ’16 World Cup. He was named head coach of the 2022 Olympic squad, but did not attend due to NHL players not participating in the Games.
The Marshfield, Massachusetts native will be the third U.S. Olympic head coach in the last 20 years with Pittsburgh Penguins connections. Herb Brooks was a Penguins scout in 2002 when he guided the Americans to a silver medal in Salt Lake City, while Dan Bylsma was Pittsburgh’s head coach when he was the U.S. Olympic team’s bench boss in 2014.
Sullivan has proved to be one of the most successful coaches in the league since he was hired by the Penguins midseason in 2015. He led Pittsburgh to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and ’17, becoming the first American-born head coach to win two Stanley Cups. Sullivan is just the second head coach in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup in each of his first two years behind the bench with a team, following Toe Blake with Montreal.
Since being named head coach of the Penguins on Dec. 12, 2015, Sullivan has gone 375-219-77. His 375 regular-season wins with the Penguins are more than any other head coach in franchise history, and his regular-season win total in that span is tied for fourth in the NHL.
Sullivan has a career NHL head coaching record of 445-275-115 with Pittsburgh and the Boston Bruins, and is one of just three American-born head coaches, along with John Tortorella and Peter Laviolette, to notch 400 wins. This past season, he appeared in his 800th NHL game as a head coach on Feb. 6, 2024. His 430 wins through his first 800 NHL games were 11th-most in NHL history.
Prior to his coaching career with Pittsburgh, Sullivan served as the head coach of the Boston Bruins from 2003-06 and an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning (2007-09), New York Rangers (2009-13) and Vancouver Canucks (2013-14), as well as a development coach with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2014-15. Sullivan also spent time in the American Hockey League as the head coach of the Providence Bruins in 2002-03 and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2015-16.
As a player, Sullivan played 11 NHL seasons with the San Jose Sharks (1991-94), Calgary Flames (1994-97), Boston Bruins (1997-98) and Phoenix Coyotes (1998-2002). In 709 NHL games, he recorded 54 goals, 82 assists and 136 points.
Internationally, Sullivan represented the United States as a player at the 1988 World Junior Championship, as well as the 1997 World Championship.
Sullivan played four seasons of college hockey at Boston University from 1986-90, tallying 61 goals, 77 assists and 138 points in 141 games. He captained the Terriers during his senior season.
The post FORMER WBS HEAD COACH SULLIVAN TO LEAD USA OLYMPIC TEAM appeared first on WBS Penguins.
