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USA HOCKEY MEDIA RELEASE
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – John Hynes (Warwick, R.I./Minnesota Wild), who will enter his second season as head coach of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild this fall, has been named an assistant coach for the 2025 U.S. Men’s National Team that will compete in the 4 Nations Face-Off set for Feb. 12-20, 2025, in Montreal and Boston.
Hynes is the first assistant coach named to head coach Mike Sullivan’s staff. According to U.S. general manager Bill Guerin, additional coaches and support staff will be announced at a later date.
The 4 Nations Face-Off is a four-team international tournament being staged by the NHL and NHLPA that features teams from the U.S., Canada, Finland and Sweden. The event will include round-robin play, with the teams having the best record advancing to the championship game.
ABOUT HYNES
Hynes embarked on his professional coaching career in 2009 as an assistant coach for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the AHL before assuming the head coaching position the following season, a role he held from 2010-15. During that time, Hynes was named 2011 AHL Coach of the Year and led the Penguins to five straight 40-plus win seasons and five consecutive playoff berths, including back-to-back appearances in the conference finals. Hynes became the second-fastest coach in AHL history to reach 100 career wins, doing so in just 152 games.
Hynes made his NHL coaching debut in 2015 as head coach of the New Jersey Devils where he remained behind the bench until the 2019-20 season. During the 2017-18 season, he led New Jersey to its first playoff appearance since the 2011-12 campaign. Hynes then served as head coach of the Nashville Predators from 2020-23 before he was appointed head coach of the Minnesota Wild in 2023.
USA HOCKEY EXPERIENCE
Hynes is part of the coaching staff of a U.S. Men’s National Team for the fourth time after serving as head coach in 2024 and 2016 and as an assistant coach in 2019.
Hynes was the bench boss for three medal-winning U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Teams, including gold in 2006, silver in 2004 and bronze in 2008. He also served as an assistant coach for the U.S. National Junior Team that earned gold in the 2004 IIHF World Junior Championship.
The Warwick, Rhode Island, native spent six seasons (2003-09) as a head coach for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program and achieved a 216–113–19–9 overall record. Hynes also served as an assistant coach at the NTDP for the 2001-02 season.
COACHING AT COLLEGIATE LEVEL
Before joining the NTDP, Hynes spent one season (2000-01) as an assistant coach for the University of Massachusetts Lowell men’s hockey team and one season (2002-03) in the same role for the University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team.
PLAYING DAYS
As a player, Hynes, a forward, played four seasons (1993-97) at Boston University where he competed in four NCAA Frozen Fours, winning the championship title in 1995.
