When the 2024 IIHF Men's World Championship begins in Czechia next spring, Brett Peterson (Northborough, Mass.) will see his vision for the U.S. men's national team take the ice. Peterson is the architect of this season's roster after USA Hockey named him general manager of the 2024 men's national team. “We are really excited to...
When the 2024 IIHF Men's World Championship begins in Czechia next spring, Brett Peterson (Northborough, Mass.) will see his vision for the U.S. men's national team take the ice.
Peterson is the architect of this season's roster after USA Hockey named him general manager of the 2024 men's national team.
“We are really excited to have Brett as the general manager of our men’s national team,” USA Hockey assistant executive director of hockey operations John Vanbiesbrouck said in a statement. “He has done a terrific job in helping build the Florida Panthers, and his extensive knowledge of the overall player pool in our country will be really beneficial in putting together our team for the world championship.”
Peterson is in his fourth season as an assistant general manager with the Panthers. He became the first Black assistant GM in the NHL upon his hiring in 2020. He and general manager Bill Zito constructed a roster that's brought Florida to the playoffs in three straight years. The Cats even made a run to the Stanley Cup Final last season.
A defenseman during his playing days, Peterson played college hockey for four seasons at Boston College. He won a national championship as a freshman in 2001. He went on to play five seasons of professional hockey in the AHL, ECHL and IHL after graduating in 2004.
The U.S. will compete in Group B, which includes France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Poland, Sweden and Slovakia. They went 6-1-0 in the preliminary round in 2023. In the playoff round, the U.S. took down Czechia before falling to Germany in overtime of the semifinals. In the bronze medal game, they fell to Latvia in overtime, finishing fourth in the tournament.
Team USA has two golds, nine silver medals and nine bronze medals at the IIHF Men's Worlds. They last earned a medal with a bronze in 2021. Peterson will aim to build a roster that returns to the podium.
This season's tournament will run from May 10-26 in Prague and Ostrava, Czechia.
