It’s official: John Tortorella is Team USA’s head coach for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
“We’re excited to have John as head coach of our World Cup team,” said Los Angeles Kings and Team USA GM Dean Lombardi, per USA Hockey. “He knows what it takes to win at the highest level and I know that our entire management group looks forward to working with him and his staff.”
Tortorella has won 446 NHL games -- more than any other American coach -- and is a Stanley Cup champion. However, he was relieved of his duties with the New York Rangers in 2013 and his attempt to extend his career with the Vancouver Canucks ended disastrously.
As previously noted though, he does have experience when it comes to representing America in both the Worlds and Olympics. It’s also possible that the World Cup will favor bench bosses that aren’t currently employed by an NHL team, as seems to be the implication after the selection of Tortorella and Ralph Krueger as Team Europe’s head coach.
At the least, this gives him a stage to show that he can still be an effective bench boss.
Torts: "I'm nervous about it, because it's that big to me." #WorldCup2016
— Brian Compton (@BComptonNHL) September 22, 2015