In Bratislava, Slovakia, Team USA had a 60-minute practice at Ondrej Nepala Arena today at 2 p.m. local time. The head coach of the team, John Hynes, who also coaches the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, was present and had his coaching staff working on different aspects of the game. Assistant coach Jack Capuano focused on the Team USA penalty kill, while fellow assistant coach Derek Lalonde worked on the U.S. power play efforts. The coaching staff also includes assistant coach Ty Hennes, goaltending coach Alex Westlund, and video coach Mike King.
Three players from the 2019 U.S. Men’s National Team that played at Ondrej Nepala Arena during the 2019 IIHF Men’s World Championship were present at the practice: Zach Werenski, Johnny Gaudreau, and Luke Kunin. The team competed in preliminary round games in Kosice before moving to Ondrej Nepala Arena for the quarterfinals, where they lost to Russia by a score of 4-3. John Hynes served as an assistant coach for that team before taking over as head coach for this current iteration of Team USA.