On Monday afternoon, Team USA had a 60-minute practice at Ondrej Nepala Arena in Bratislava, Slovakia. Head coach John Hynes, who also serves as the coach of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, oversaw the training session and worked with his coaching staff on various aspects of the game. Assistant coach Jack Capuano focused on the Team USA penalty kill during practice, while fellow assistant coach Derek Lalonde worked on improving the U.S. power play efforts. The coaching staff included assistant coaches Ty Hennes, goaltending coach Alex Westlund, and video coach Mike King.
Three members of the 2019 U.S. Men’s National Team that played at Ondrej Nepala Arena during the 2019 IIHF Men’s World Championship were present for Monday’s practice: Zach Werenski, Johnny Gaudreau, and Luke Kunin. This team competed in preliminary round games in Kosice, Slovakia before moving to Ondrej Nepala Arena for the quarterfinals, where they lost to Russia by a narrow margin of 4-3. John Hynes served as an assistant coach for that team before becoming head coach of Team USA for this year’s tournament in Bratislava.
