Bruins general manager Don Sweeney will help build Canada’s 2022 Olympic team
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney will have some extra duties on his plate next year, as he will be part of the management tasked with returning Canada to the top of the hockey world, with the six-season B’s general manager named to Team Canada’s management group for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on Wednesday.
The Blues’ Doug Armstrong has been named general manager, while longtime Red Wings builder and now Edmonton head Ken Holland will serve as the team’s associate general manager. Sweeney checks in below Holland, where he’ll be joined by the Kraken’s Ron Francis and Florida’s Roberto Luongo as assistant general managers.
Taking over for Peter Chiarelli in 2015, Sweeney’s Bruins are one of four Eastern Conference teams to reach the playoffs in each of the past four seasons, and Boston’s 235 wins under Sweeney’s leadership currently stand as the third-most in the NHL behind the Capitals’ 255 wins and Tampa Bay’s 252 victories.
The 54-year-old Sweeney also earned the top honor in his profession back in 2019, as he was named the league’s General Manager of the Year after the Bruins advanced to the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, due in large part to Sweeney’s deadline moves for Charlie Coyle and Marcus Johansson.
This will be Sweeney’s first time on Team Canada’s management team, and just his second time representing his country on the international stage after helping Canada win a gold medal at the 1997 IIHF World Championship.
After sitting out the 2018 Olympic games, NHL players will return to Olympic ice in 2022.
With that in mind, it’s worth wondering if Sweeney will be the only B’s flavor on Team Canada. Top-line center Patrice Bergeron represented Canada at the Olympics in both 2010 and 2014, and Bergeron was joined by linemate Brad Marchand at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey in Toronto. Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy, meanwhile, could also be a potential candidate to join Team Canada’s coaching staff, likely as an assistant coach.
We talked a lot about the Bruins before the game against the Flyers in the newest episode of the SideLines podcast. Have a listen below.
