Hockey Canada Includes Ottawa Connections In Monday's Olympic Announcement

Hockey Canada has announced its coaching and support staff for the 2026 Winter Olympics and there's some love for Ottawa in the mix.

The Senators will be represented by John Forget, their Head Equipment Manager, and Dom Nicoletta, their Head Athletic Therapist. They'll both join Team Canada in their pursuit of this country's first Olympic men's hockey gold in 11 years.

Forget and Nicoletta are no strangers to international competition. Forget will be on his seventh assignment with Team Canada, including five appearances at the IIHF Men's World Championship. He’s earned two gold medals and one silver during those tournaments.

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Nicoletta has donned the red leaf on four occasions, including three Worlds. He's the guy who's sometimes known to Sens fans as the bearer of bad news. When a Sens player goes down the tunnel with injury, the TV cameras frequently catch Nicoletta coming out from the room and whispering news about the player's status/diagnosis into the coach's ear.

He and Forget helped Canada claim gold in 2021 and secure a silver medal in 2019. Most recently, the pair were part of the off-ice crew that helped Canada win the 4 Nations Face-Off this past February.

But this will be the first Olympic Games for both Forget and Nicoletta, giving them a shot at not only adding an Olympic medal, but also a chance to enjoy all the things that make the games special – the Olympic Village, the other sports, and of course, the opening and closing ceremonies.

They're not likely to be joined in Italy by any of the Sens' Canadian players, but they will be joined at the Games by Senators forwards Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stützle, who are set to represent the U.S. and Germany, respectively. All countries unveiled the first six players for their preliminary rosters last month, and both players made the top six. The other players will be named later this year.

Other Senators who might make their way to the Olympics include Jake Sanderson (USA), Nik Matinpalo and Leevi Merilainen (FIN), Linus Ullmark (SWE) and Lars Eller (DEN).

Basically, Hockey Canada declared on Monday they're sticking with what's working because not a lot has in recent years. They did win at the 4 Nations Face-off in February, so they're running it back with the same coaching and support staff this coming February.

From Hockey Canada:

Assistant coaches Bruce Cassidy (Ottawa, ON / Vegas, NHL), Peter DeBoer (Dunnville, ON) and Rick Tocchet (Scarborough, ON / Philadelphia, NHL), assistant coach and eye-in-the-sky Misha Donskov (London, ON), consultant David Alexander (Moncton, NB / St. Louis, NHL), director of performance analysis James Emery (Calgary, AB) and video coordinator Elliott Mondou (Grand-Mère, QC/St. Louis, NHL) have been named to the coaching staff alongside Jon Cooper (Prince George, BC / Tampa Bay, NHL), who was named head coach for the 2026 Olympics last June.

The coaching staff was selected by Cooper, general manager Doug Armstrong (Sarnia, ON / St. Louis, NHL), assistant general managers Julien BriseBois (Greenfield Park, QC / Tampa Bay, NHL), Jim Nill (Hanna, AB / Dallas, NHL) and Don Sweeney (St. Stephen, NB / Boston, NHL), and director of player personnel Kyle Dubas (Sault Ste. Marie, ON / Pittsburgh, NHL).

There are plenty of Ottawa 67's ties as well. Cassidy starred for the 67's back in the 80's. Donskov is a former 67's associate coach. And the club's current Head of Athlete Performance & Strength and Conditioning, Sean Young, was also named to Canada's staff.

Here's the full list of Canada's support staff from Hockey Canada:

• Sport physiotherapist Kent Kobelka (Revelstoke, BC/Calgary, NHL)
• Athletic therapist Domenic Nicoletta (Sault Ste. Marie, ON/Ottawa, NHL)
• Massage therapists Marcin Goszczynski (Calgary, AB) and Andy Hüppi (Schmerikon, SUI)
• Team physician Dr. Ian Auld (Victoria, BC/Calgary, NHL)
• Equipment managers John Forget (Oshawa, ON/Ottawa, NHL) and Darren Granger (Brandon, MB/Los Angeles, NHL)
• Strength and conditioning coach Sean Young (Ennismore, ON/Ottawa, OHL)
• Mental performance consultant Dr. Ryan Hamilton (Fredericton, NB/Tampa Bay, NHL)
• Hockey operations managers Mitchell Furlotte (Bathurst, NB) and Kurt Keats (Winnipeg, MB)
• Hockey operations coordinator Miah Armitage (Creston, BC)
• Media relations vice-president Sean Kelso (Vancouver, BC/Calgary, NHL)
• Media relations manager Spencer Sharkey (Hamilton, ON)

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa
Image Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

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