Devils’ John Hynes Named Head Coach of 2016 USA Men’s Team

Devils head coach John Hynes (NHL.com)

USA Hockey announced on Friday that New Jersey Devils head coach John Hynes, has been named the head coach for the USA Men’s National Team that will play in the 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship, May 6-22 in Moscow and St Petersburgh Russia.

Hynes will be making his debut as head coach of the national team. He did serve as head coach behind the bench of the US National Development Program as the head coach from 2003 through 2009, helping to lead the US to three medals, gold-2006, silver-2004 and bronze-2008, at the IIHF U18 Men’s World Championships.

In 2004, Hynes helped lead the US to its first ever gold medal at the IIHF World Juniors Championship, as an assist coach. During the 2016 World Cup of Hockey this fall, Hynes will also serve as an assistant coach for Team USA.

Jim Johannson, Assistant Executive Director of Hockey Operations for USA Hockey said, “John has been involved with US teams on multiple occasion in the past and we are excited to have him leading our team at the men’s world championship.” Johannson added, “John’s teams are always well prepared and his extensive knowledge of our player pool is a big benefit as well.”

Hynes is finishing up his first season behind the bench with Devils, where he led them to 37 victories, five more than the team had during the 2014-2015 season. Prior to joining the Devils, Hynes was the bench boss for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, American Hockey League affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

While with the Baby Penguins, Hynes helped lead them to a 231-126-27 record. The 2011 AHL Coach of the Year lead Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to five straight 40 or more win seasons, five consecutive playoff berths and back to back conference finals appearances. Four of his five years at the helm, his teams allowed the fewest goals in the league.

Hynes spent time behind the bench in the college ranks too, serving as an assistant coach with University of Massachusetts-Lowell in 2000-2001 and University of Wisconsin in 2002-2003.

The staff and players for the 2016 US Men’s team are selected by US National Team Advisory Group. The advisory group is led by Johannson; Stan Bowman, Chicago Blackhawks General Manager; Dean Lombardi, Los Angeles Kings General Manager; Ray Shero, Devils General Manager; David Poile, Nashville Predators General Manager; Dale Talon, Florida Panthers General Manager and Don Waddell, Carolina Hurricanes President.