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| Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach Scott Gordon will be representing the United States in international hockey for the eighth time. |
USA Hockey announced Friday that Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach Scott Gordon has been named an assistant coach for Team USA for the upcoming 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Gordon will be alongside former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coaches Mike Sullivan (now Pittsburgh's head coach) and John Hynes (now New Jersey's head coach) as well as New York Islanders head coach Jack Capuano and Nashville Predators assistant coach Phil Housley all as assistants for Team USA. Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella will be head coach of Team USA.
"Its my 8th opportunity to be part of the United States hockey program and I've loved every single one of them," Gordon said about being named to Team USA's staff for the World Cup of Hockey. "Every challenge has been different, but I can tell you there's no better feeling in any experience that I have had with hockey than being on the bench as they're doing international play and after a win the raising of the flag and the plan of the national anthem. It's just a tremendous feeling."
For Gordon, he's no stranger to representing the United States in international hockey.
"Its my 8th opportunity to be part of the United States hockey program and I've loved every single one of them," Gordon said about being named to Team USA's staff for the World Cup of Hockey. "Every challenge has been different, but I can tell you there's no better feeling in any experience that I have had with hockey than being on the bench as they're doing international play and after a win the raising of the flag and the plan of the national anthem. It's just a tremendous feeling."
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| First year Phantoms' head coach Scott Gordon on the ice in Voorhees during training camp in the fall. Photo: Nina Weiss/The Home News. |
Gordon was an assistant coach for the 2010 silver medal winning Team USA in the Olympics. He was head coach of the U.S. Men's National Team for the IIHF Men's World Championship in 2010, 2011 and 2012 after serving as an assistant coach in 2009.
As a player, Gordon appeared as a goaltender for Team USA in the 1990 Olympics in France where the U.S. finished fourth. He also was a goaltender on the 1991 U.S. team in the World Championships played in Finland, where USA also finished fourth.
"The very first time I went on the ice as an Olympian in France I could not believe the passion of the games. Not just the fans of the United States that were over in France and there are a lot but the whole environment of being part of that experience of competing against another country. It has just a completely different flavor."
"The very first time I went on the ice as an Olympian in France I could not believe the passion of the games. Not just the fans of the United States that were over in France and there are a lot but the whole environment of being part of that experience of competing against another country. It has just a completely different flavor."
For Gordon, playing and coaching at the national stage is the pinnacle of his hockey career. He said the only thing that even compares to the feeling of international play is the NHL playoffs and hosting the Stanley Cup.
As a former goaltender turned coach, Gordon grew up during the era associated with the 1980 'Miracle on Ice' and he holds that moment especially close to him, and for good reason.
"I grew up in the same hometown as Jim Craig so I had the opportunity to follow his career and I think back to that day when the whole team is celebrating the win and he's got the flag draped around him," Gordon recalled of watching the 1980 Olympics. "That's something that every kid in that era grew up with."
The 2016 World Cup of Hockey is scheduled for Sept. 17 to Oct. 1 in Toronto and will feature eight teams including the U.S., Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden, Team Europe and Team North America.
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