Longtime NHL coach Mike Keenan takes over as coach of Italian men's national team

Calgary Flames head coach Mike Keenan yells out drills during practice in Calgary, Tuesday, April 14, 2009. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

Mike Keenan will be leading the Italian men's national hockey team as head coach, the Italian Ice Sports Federation announced Tuesday.

Keenan, 72, coached eight teams in the NHL over a span of 25 years from 1984 to 2009.

Italy, which did not compete in the 2022 Beijing Games, is set to host the 2026 Winter Olympics. Host countries get automatic entries into Olympic competition for hockey.

Keenan won the Jack Adams Award in his first year as a head coach with the Philadelphia Flyers and also led the New York Rangers to a Stanley Cup title in 1994. The Bowmanville, Ont., native also led the Canadian men's team to Canada Cup victories in 1987 and 1991.

Following his last NHL stint with the Calgary Flames from 2007-08 to 2008-09, Keenan moved on to broadcasting before opting to coach in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League in 2013-14. He led Magnitogorsk Metallurg to a Gagarin Cup victory in his first of three seasons with the team.

Keenan last coached Kunlun Red Star of the KHL in 2017-18.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2022.