Inside John Wroblewski’s hockey career that ended early but set him up to be an Olympics coaching legend

Inside John Wroblewski’s hockey career that ended early but set him up to be an Olympics coaching legend originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

John Wroblewski has spent the entire 2026 Winter Olympics coaching the most dominant team in Milan, the United States women’s hockey team.

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On Thursday, Team USA will take on Canada in the gold medal game. It’s a chance for legend status for everyone on the ice, as well as the man behind the bench.

Here’s what you need to know about the sharply dressed fella calling the shots.

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Who is Team USA’s women’s hockey coach?

John Wroblewski has been the United States’ coach since the 2022 world championships.

He’s got a long coaching background. Prior to this gig, he was the head coach of the national team development program on the men’s side.

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That means that he spent much of his coaching career developing the players who are now shining for the U.S. men’s team at this same Olympics tournament in which he’s coaching the women’s team.

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Did John Wroblewski play hockey?

Wroblewski did play hockey, although he never played in the NHL.

He played four seasons of college hockey at Notre Dame.

After that, Wroblewski topped out with four years in the ECHL.

He began his coaching career there, in the ECHL, and then in the AHL before starting to move toward national program gigs.

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His upbringing in hockey evidently set him up for coaching success.

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