Wild's Bill Guerin named general manager of the U.S. Olympic men's hockey team

Bill Guerin will move up to be general manager of the U.S. Olympic men's hockey team.

The Wild general manager was officially promoted by USA Hockey, replacing Stan Bowman, who resigned in October.

The U.S. team will be named on New Year's Day. The Winter Olympics are Feb. 4-20 in Beijing.

Chris Drury, president and general manager of the New York Rangers, will be the assistant GM of Team USA.

"This is the dream of a lifetime and something I take with tremendous pride," Guerin said in a teleconference Tuesday morning. "The NHL GMs have shown me great support."

NHL players are set to participate in the Games, although there is a Jan. 10 deadline for the league to opt out without financial penalty. COVID-19 protocols will be strict in China and might require lengthy quarantines for positive tests, which could make players reluctant to participate.

"There's not much talk of that, but we'll see where we are when we pick the team,'' Drury said.

Detroit's Tyler Bertuzzi is the NHL's only unvaccinated player, but there still have been several COVID-19 outbreaks in the league. Vaccinations are required for Olympic athletes.

Said Guerin: "Our responsibility is to make them feel comfortable going. The last thing we want to do is put anyone in harm's way."

Should the NHL bail out, the U.S. team would be formed from American pros playing in Europe, with a sprinkle of college players, as it was during the 2018 Olympic Games when current Wild winger Jordan Greenway participated as a collegian. USA Hockey executive directors Pat Kelleher and John Vanbiesbrouck would head the effort for an alternative team.

Guerin, 51, and Drury are working from a list of about 55 NHL players that'll be pared to 25 for the Olympics. Three players — Toronto's Auston Matthews and Blackhawks Patrick Kane and Seth Jones — already have been chosen.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan will coach Team USA, assisted by Nashville coach John Hynes, former Rangers coach David Quinn, former Capitals coach Todd Reirden and retired NHL goalie Ryan Miller.

"Our focus is to put together the best team we can to compete for a gold medal. I'm lucky to have Chris working with me ... we are longtime friends, former teammates, Olympic teammates, and even Olympic roommates," said Guerin, who played in the Olympics in 1998 in Nagano, Japan; 2002 in Salt Lake City where the U.S. won silver; and 2006 in Turin, Italy.

Drury, 45, is also a three-time Olympian (2002, 2006 and on a silver-medal winning team in 2010 in Vancouver).

Bowman was the general manager of the Olympic team before stepping aside Oct. 26, shortly after he resigned as general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks. The GM for three Stanley Cup championships in Chicago, he had been Olympic GM since March. He resigned from both his posts because he failed to act when he learned of sexual assault allegations against former Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich.

"Some unfortunate situations along the way," Guerin said. "It's been a bit of a bumpy ride, but we have a job to do, and we just need to focus on the hockey right now."

Guerin is in his third season as Wild GM after serving as assistant general manager of the Penguins. He played 18 seasons in the NHL with eight teams and won Stanley Cups with New Jersey and Pittsburgh. He is in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.

The U.S. has two hockey gold medals, in 1960 and 1980.

The Olympic Athletes from Russia won gold in 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea, when the NHL did not participate. OAR beat Germany in the gold medal game on an overtime goal by future Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov.