Team Canada on Monday started the week off by announcing their full men’s Olympic team coaching staff for the 2026 Milan and Cortina Olympic Winter Games and it includes another important member of the Lightning staff.
Included in Team Canada’s support staff is Tampa Bay Lightning mental performance consultant, Dr. Ryan Hamilton.
Dr. Hamilton has been with the Lightning since November of 2014. His role is to focus on helping players develop a winning mentality while helping players and staff maintain focus, relaxation, and confidence in their abilities under pressure. He was an integral part of helping players and staff get through the 2020 Covid-19 season and making it through the “NHL bubble” that kept players safe and quarantined when needed. The Lightning credit Dr. Hamilton with keeping the players’ and staff’s mental health in the right place not only during the Covid-bubble times, but in how they have approached mental health since.
“First, it is my job to teach athletes the mental skills that will allow them to perform at the top of their game on the biggest stages on earth,” said Hamilton in a 2020 interview with Jason La Rose of Team Canada. “This isn't done through magic words; it's done through connection, wisdom and hard work.”
Dr. Hamilton was also a member of the Canadian staff for the 2018 and 2020 IIHF World Junior Champions. He was a part of the Canadian team that won the gold at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championships.
Outside of the hockey realm, Dr. Hamilton is also an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of New Brunswick (UNB Fredericton).
Dr. Hamilton joins Lightning General Manager Julien BriseBois and Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper, both of whom were announced earlier this summer as being a part of the Canadian national hockey team for the Milan-Cortino 2026 Winter Olympics. He will serve as the Mental Performance Consultant there to help athletes navigate the pressure of the Olympics, while, as mentioned above, staying composed, but also enjoying being able to call themselves Olympic athletes & enjoying the experience.
