John Tortorella
Vancouver Canucks new head coach John Tortorella talks to the media after he was introduced by Canucks General Manager Mike Gillis during a news conference in Vancouver, British Columbia June 25, 2013. REUTERS/Ben Nelms

Veteran mentor and analyst John Tortorella will handle the United States ice hockey national team, which will participate in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. The announcement was made on ESPN’s SportsCenter on Monday.

"I couldn't be more honored," Tortorella said via an ESPN article. "I couldn't be more excited to be part of it."

The 57-year-old Tortorella has coached a total of 930 NHL regular season games and 89 postseason games from 1999 to 2014 handling the New York Rangers (1999-2000 and 2008 to 2012), Tampa Bay Lightning (2000 to 2008) and the Vancouver Canucks (2013-2014). Tortorella has a combined career win-loss-tie record of 487-417-37 with eight playoff appearances, including one he won in the Stanley Cup title in 2004 with the Lightning.

In that season, Tortorella was also named the NHL Coach of the Year. Tortorella’s most recent stint in the NHL was with the Canucks in the 2013-2014 season when the team finished with a 36-35 record and missed the playoffs. Since being fired by the Canucks, Tortorella has appeared as a studio analyst for ESPN.

With the U.S. national team, Tortorella served as an assistant coach in 2008-2009 helping the squad finish sixth at the 2008 IIHF World Championship in Quebec, Canada. He was also an assistant coach for the U.S. team in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver where they won the silver medal.

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