COLORADO SPRING, Colo. – Penn State men's hockey Director of Operations, Alex Dawes, will find himself among the best in the world this winter as he has been added to the coaching staff for the 2022 Winter Olympics as announced by USA Hockey Thursday morning. Dawes will serve as video coach for the U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team during the games of the 24th Olympiad from February 4 through February 20 in Beijing, China.
"It is an honor to be invited to work with the men's national team on the Olympic stage," mentioned Dawes. "I can't thank Coach Gadowsky and the Penn State administration enough for supporting me in this opportunity."
Dawes will be responsible for producing scouting reports, pre and post-game meeting packages and will be assisting in all areas of hockey technology while in China.
This isn't his first experience with USA Hockey on the international stage as he has held similar positions with the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team, winning a gold medal at the 2016 IIHF World Championships, and most recently with the U.S. Men's National Junior Team, earning a silver medal at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship in Victoria/Vancouver, British Columbia.
Team USA will be guided by former New York Rangers and Boston University head coach, David Quinn, with Minnesota State head coach Mike Hastings, St. Cloud State head coach Brett Larson, Pittsburgh Penguins director of player development Scott Young and USA Hockey national goaltending coach David Lassonde serving as assistants.
"This incredible privilege and the honor is extremely well earned; Dawesy is a high quality individual that is highly regarded in the hockey community and has been a consistent example of the premier standard of work ethic and commitment over the years," commented head coach Guy Gadowsky. "All of us involved with Penn State Hockey are extremely proud of Alex and wish him and Team USA the very best of luck at the Olympics!"
For more information on the 2021-22 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: Official Bookstore of Penn State Athletics, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
