Robb Stauber named head coach for Team USA’s 2018 Olympic team

The head coach was most recently behind the bench during the 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championships, where he led USA to a gold medal.

USA Hockey made official what many probably expected after the most recent World championships and named Robb Stauber head coach of the 2018 US Olympic team.

"Robb knows what is takes to win at the highest levels of the game," said Jim Smith, president of USA Hockey. "We're excited to have him lead our U.S. Women's National Team up to and through the 2018 Olympic Winter Games."

Stauber was also the head coach of the national team during the inaugural December series against Canada, where he coached the team for a pair of games, both losses.

Though Stauber has been the head coach of Team USA for less than a year, he’s been a part of the women’s hockey program for a long time. He first joined the coaching staff in 2010 and served as an assistant coach for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, where USA won a silver medal.

A former goaltender himself, he’s been a goalie coach and worked in development and scouting for Team USA.

Though there are still several months before the PyeongChang Olympics, the national team will be selected on May 8, and having a coach in place to work with the national team from now until the Olympics will be crucial in the team’s development.