Reports: Tony Granato to be named head coach of U.S. Olympic Team; Chelios an assistant

August 3, 2017August 3, 2017 MiHockey Staff

By @MichaelCaples –

The U.S. Olympic Team’s coaching staff for the 2018 Games will have a little Red Wings flavor, according to reports.

Per Darren Dreger of TSN and Todd Milewski of Madison.com, Wisconsin head coach and former Red Wings assistant coach Tony Granato will be the head coach of Team USA.

Meanwhile, former Red Wings blueliner and current Red Wings assistant coach Chris Chelios will be an assistant to Granato.

Team USA to name its Olympic coaching staff. Tony Granato head coach along with Chris Chelios and Greg Brown as assistants.

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) August 4, 2017

~~Brown, brother of former Red Wings forward Doug, is an assistant coach of Boston College. He was an assistant coach on Team USA’s World Junior-winning squad this past winter.~~ Dreger retracted that part of his tweet.

There were reports in June that Chelios was leaving the Wings to pursue other opportunities. With the NHL not sending its players to the 2018 Games in PyeongChang, it was assumed that no NHL coaches would be working for national teams, either.