Jon Cooper will coach Canada at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics.
The longest-tenured active coach in the NHL, Cooper recently completed his 12th season with the Tampa Bay Lightning, who he has led to the Stanley Cup twice.
The inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off will be a best-on-best tournament using only NHL players with the U.S., Canada, Finland and Sweden competing from Feb. 12-20. They will play seven games during a nine-day period in yet-to-be-named cities in North America -- one in the U.S. and one in Canada.
The 2026 Winter Olympics will be held from Feb. 6-22 in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. It's the first time NHL players will participate in the Olympics since 2014.
"Jon is a world-class person, coach and leader, and his impressive resume and success in the NHL make him the perfect person to lead Team Canada over the next two years at the 4 Nations Face-Off and 2026 Olympic Winter Games," Doug Armstrong, St. Louis Blues general manager and management group lead for Canada national men's team said in a statement on Tuesday. "Our management group knows that Jon will represent our country with pride while bringing his winning pedigree to the international stage, and we look forward to working with him as we build teams with the best NHL players in Canada at two marquee events."
Cooper, who is from Prince George, British Columbia, is 525-279-75 in 879 regular-season games with the Lightning, and 87-63 in 150 Stanley Cup Playoff games, helping them win the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021 and advance to the Cup Final in 2015 and 2022. The 56-year-old has led Tampa Bay to the playoffs 10 times in his 11 full seasons, including advancing to at least the third round six times.
Cooper previously led Canada to a silver medal at the 2017 IIHF World Championship. He was announced as coach for Canada at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, but the NHL did not participate.
The teams in the 4 Nations Face-Off are expected to announce the first six players on their rosters by early summer with the remainder of the roster coming at a later date.
