Tortorella to coach Team USA at World Cup

USA Hockey named John Tortorella coach of Team USA for the 2016 World Cup on Monday.

The announcement was made on ESPN following the NFL game between the New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts.

"There’s no greater honor than to represent your country, and I’m humbled to have this opportunity," Tortorella said. "We’ll have one objective and that will be to bring the World Cup championship back to the United States."

Tortorella, 57, leads American-born coaches with 446 wins and coached the Tampa Bay Lightning to their only Stanley Cup championship in 2004. He has also coached the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks.

"Obviously, he's a very successful head coach and assistant coach, won at whatever he's done," Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk said of Tortorella. "Guys know that and they respect that. In tournaments like this, guys don't really care [about a coach's past], everyone has a clean slate going into it.

"I'm sure [Ryan] McDonagh, [Derek] Stepan or [Ryan] Callahan if they're there, they will obviously know better than anyone else, but I don't think they would have any hard feelings or would care about the past. It's a short tournament and everyone is trying to win games. I'm sure that's all that is on his mind too. Guys will be more than happy to play for him."

Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter agreed. Tortorella was an assistant coach for the U.S. at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

"I played for him in Vancouver and he was a really good coach," Suter said. "He's intense, he knows how to win and I think he'll be a great coach for that."

Los Angeles Kings general manager Dean Lombardi will be Team USA's general manager at the World Cup, which will be held Sept. 17-Oct. 1 in Toronto. Philadelphia Flyers president Paul Holmgren will be assistant GM; Calgary Flames president of hockey operations Brian Burke will be a senior adviser; and Jim Johannson of USA Hockey will be director of hockey operations.

Team USA will be in Group A along with Team Canada, Team Czech Republic and Team Europe, comprised of the top players from countries outside the four European countries already competing in the tournament (Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden and Russia). Group B will consist of Team Russia, Team Finland, Team Sweden and Team North America, comprised of the top North American players who will be 23-years-old or younger as of Oct. 1, 2016.

All games in the tournament will be played at Air Canada Centre and be televised by ESPN in the United States, and Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada.