The head coach of the men’s Gopher hockey team has been selected to lead the U.S. National Junior Team.

On Tuesday, USA Hockey announced that Bob Motzko will serve as head coach of the 2026 U.S. National Junior Team.

“We’re fortunate to have someone with Bob’s level of experience coaching our team on home soil,” said John Vanbiesbrouck, general manager of Team USA and assistant executive director for hockey operations at USA Hockey. “Having guided our teams to medals on two other occasions in the World Juniors, he knows what it takes to have success, and we’re excited to have him leading our team.”

The team will play in the 2026 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship from Dec. 26, 2025, to Jan. 5, 2025, in St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Team USA will compete in Group A against Germany, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland in the preliminary round at Xcel Energy Center. Group B, which includes Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland and Latvia, will play their preliminary round at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Two quarterfinals will be played at each venue, with both semifinals, along with the bronze and gold medal games, being held at Xcel Energy Center.

Motzko coached the U.S. to gold at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship and bronze at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship.

The United States will enter the tournament as two-time defending gold medalists.