Sweeney Honored to Have Role with Team Canada

BostonBruins.com - It has been over two decades since Don Sweeney last represented his native Canada on the international stage. In his one and only opportunity to don the maple leaf, Sweeney helped the Canadians to a gold medal at the 1997 IIHF World Championships in Finland.
Some 24 years later, Sweeney is once again getting the chance to be part of Team Canada, this time as a member of the management group for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

On Wednesday morning, the 54-year-old was named an assistant general manager to Doug Armstrong (St. Louis), joining associate general manager Ken Holland (Edmonton), and fellow assistants Ron Francis (Seattle) and Robert Luongo (Florida), as well as senior vice president of national team Scott Salmond.
"It's an incredible privilege to work with these guys," said Sweeney, a native of St. Stephen, New Brunswick. "Knowing the success that each and every one of them, individually, have had, it's overwhelming at times to think of the knowledge and being in the conversations and realize that listening skills, for me, need to improve. Need to be a sponge.
"I think I have my own opinions that Doug has been really, really welcoming for everybody to express their opinion in a really open format. I'm grateful for just the opportunity to be around these guys and again with Hockey Canada.
"A long time since I represented Canada back in '97. I'm 1-0, and hopefully get to contribute and do whatever I possibly can to get to 2-0."
Sweeney was named the Bruins' eighth general manager in July 2015 and has been a member of the club's hockey operations department since 2006 when he re-joined the organization following his retirement as the team's Director of Player Development.
The Harvard University alum and Boston's 1984 eighth-round pick was named to the position of Director of Hockey Operations in July 2007 before being promoted to assistant general manager in September 2009.
Since taking over as general manager, Sweeney - who played 15 of 16 NHL seasons in Boston - has helped guide the Bruins to four consecutive playoff berths, including a trip to the 2019 Stanley Cup Final and the 2020 Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best regular-season team. For his efforts in building the B's into a Stanley Cup finalist, he was named the NHL's General Manager of the Year in 2019.
"I'm great friends with Peter Chiarelli. Peter had the foresight to bring Donny in and work with him and speaks so highly of Donny," said Armstrong. "And then watching what he's done with the Boston Bruins since he's become manager. It's a difficult job right now to manage in the NHL with a salary cap. You have to make hard decisions and, quite honestly, you have to make unpopular decisions. And Donny has been able to do that and keep the Bruins at the top.
"The greatest recognition you can get besides going into the Hall of Fame is being recognized by your peers as manager of the year. We all felt that Donny had deserved that a couple years ago."
Armstrong is also no stranger to Sweeney's well-respected playing career, which includes ranking fourth on Boston's all-time games played list (1,052) behind Ray Bourque, Johnny Bucyk, and Patrice Bergeron. The long-time executive was the GM of the Dallas Stars in 2003 when Sweeney joined the club for his final NHL campaign.
"You are testing my memory now to [2003-04] when Donny came in," Armstrong joked when asked what qualities stood out about Sweeney when he was a player. "We were a franchise that was in transition. We were looking for someone who had great leadership qualities, someone that had played in a winning organization.
"Donny came in and he came as advertised. He played with his heart, he left everything on the ice, and he was a pleasure to be around."
Sweeney is likely to have some Black & Gold company in Beijing with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron strong candidates to make the roster in 2022. Both have represented Canada on multiple occasions, with Bergeron suiting up for the last two Winter Olympics (2010 and 2014) that featured NHL players. Boston's dynamic duo also dressed for Canada during the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy has also seen his name floated as a potential member of Canada's coaching staff. The Ottawa native played for Team Canada at the 1984 World Junior Championship.
"As a coach, I'd love to represent my country," said the NHL's reigning Jack Adams Award winner. "I became an American citizen recently, but I've been a Canadian for my whole life and that's still a big part of me. Never want to lose that. For me, it would be an honor to be considered, like really an honor to be chosen in any capacity."