“I can’t even put it in words. Just to represent our country and represent our organization here, that’s awesome, yeah.”
While most of the attention is currently on Kings defenseman Drew Doughty and forward Adrian Kempe, who squared off last night in the opening game of the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Kings also have some representation in the coaching department. Kings goaltending coach Mike Buckley will represent the United States, as a part of Head Coach Mike Sullivan’s staff. Buckley worked closely with Sullivan during his time in the Pittsburgh organization and will now re-join Sullivan on the international stage as well, working with the American goaltenders over the tournament.
For Buckley, it’s his first time representing the United States as a coach. While he hasn’t worked directly with any of the three American netminders, Buckley was a goaltending coach in Hockey East with UMass and New Hampshire, coinciding with Connor Hellebuyck’s time at UMass-Lowell and Jake Oettinger’s time at Boston University, while just missing Jeremy Swayman’s tenure at the University of Maine.
For Buckley, the nod is well-deserved, beyond just his familiarity with Sullivan. Since he was hired by Los Angeles in advance of the 2023-24 season, the Kings have ranked second in the NHL in team save percentage. He’s overseen strong showings from Cam Talbot and Darcy Kuemper in their first seasons with the Kings, helping those goaltenders to post resurgent campaigns greater than their season prior, along with the emergence of David Rittich as a solid backup option after he was recalled from the AHL’s Ontario Reign last season.
Lots of differences between working with Kuemper and Rittich over 82 games, versus working with the trio of Hellebuyck, Oettinger and Swayman over 3-4 games in under two weeks.
A quick Q&A with Buckley, recorded earlier this season, in advance of the first game of the tournament tonight for the United States –
Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
On the job of a 4 Nations Face-Off Goaltending Coach
That’s a good question, it’s the first time, so we’ll see. I think that it’s more or less there’s pre-scouts that need to be done, there’s the opponent’s goaltenders you want to look at. I’m [in contact] with the goalies’ goalie-coaches, see what they like to do to prepare for games and hopefully just learn a lot from them and from the other coaches.
On his preferences between splitting the net versus finding a starter to ride
Hopefully you run with one, maybe two guys. I think there’s a lot of factors that go into it, from now to the drop of the puck, in terms of how guys are playing, tracking their progression throughout the season, obviously injuries are big part. Ideally, you want one guy to get hot and stick with him.
On the approach to coaching three goaltenders, all of an elite pedigree
I mean, it’s difficult, it’s definitely going to bring the best out of each guy, I would say. You have three very high-end goaltenders and the competitive spirit of all three of these guys is going to be heightened, for sure.
On how you decide between Hellebuyck, Oettinger and Swayman
I think as a staff, we’ll get together, we’ll discuss it, we’ll look at how is that goalie playing going into the tournament, factors like that, maybe even the opponent, at times, like which goalie handles the puck better in certain situations or plays different scenarios better. Sometimes it comes down to that decision. You try not to overthink it and try to just make the best decision for the team and decide which guy is going to give you a best chance to win on an individual night.
On the process of scouting opposing goaltenders, both for Team USA and the Kings
I’d say, honestly, it’s my favorite thing to do, because when I show something to a player and then they score, I feel like I’m involved more. For me, that’s the fun part of the job, takes a little bit of the stress away, but it is 80/20 probably, to split it. Spend a good amount of time looking at not only what their goalie is doing but what their team is doing in general to try and score on our goalie.
On his experience with the development of goaltenders in the United States
You look at the national development program, goes up to juniors, age 20, 21, so there is that program, they do an incredible job structuring that, and there’s a goalie director, Steve Thompson, and his job is to promote goaltending throughout the country at the youth level and get people to understand how to make goalies better and not just throw them in net for your team’s youth hockey practice. That has a huge impact and from year to year, you can see the evolution of goaltending in the United States. The guys who are representing us at the 4 Nations are definitely a result of that.
Buckley and Team USA get their tournament underway later on this evening against Finland. The United States will take on Drew Doughty’s Canada on Saturday and Adrian Kempe’s Sweden on Monday, before potentially advancing to the championship game on Thursday evening in Boston, in what would be a game on home ice for the Americans if they are able to advance. A full tournament preview is available HERE, including the full tournament schedule.
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