On two different days in February, palpable tension mounted at the Milano Santaguilia Ice Hockey Arena. The United States and Canadian Olympic hockey teams, men and women, had both reached the end of regulation, tied in games that would decide gold medals at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games.
Brothers Pat and Chris Kelleher stood in Team USA’s management suite with their eyes glued to the 3-on-3 overtime action.
Both times, the Red, White, and Blue emerged victorious. First the women on Feb. 19, then the men on Feb. 22, and the Belmont natives rejoiced.
“When Jack Hughes’ goal went in,” said Pat, executive director of USA Hockey, “I’d describe it as a mosh pit.”
“Oh yeah,” Chris added. “Guys were crying… It was really emotional.”
While only the players received gold medals, the Kelleher brothers put their stamps on the victorious teams. Pat oversees the national governing body of the sport, and Chris served as the director of player personnel for the U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team.
Pat, a 1988 Belmont High School graduate who played hockey at Brown, joined USA Hockey in 2000 after years of coaching and hockey director roles around the country. He became the organization’s executive director in 2017.
The Olympic teams – men’s, women’s, and paralympic sled – are the “end of the rainbow” for USA Hockey, which fields a large grassroots player pipeline beginning with amateurs. Pat and his staff select a general manager for each team. In the men’s case it was current Minnesota Wild general manager, Bill Guerin, who in turn chose his own staff.
Chris, who went to prep schools, captained the Boston University hockey team in the late 1990s before a professional career in the American Hockey League, Europe, and a game with the Boston Bruins.
Guerin selected four assistants – all NHL general managers – and Chris, Guerin’s colleague with the Wild as the team’s assistant general manager.
“Hey buddy, we’ve got to win this now,” Pat remembers telling Chris upon learning of his selection to the staff. “He helped us do that, and it’s something we’ll have forever.”
Chris joined the Wild as a pro scout in 2009 and, after a decade, became the organization’s director of professional scouting. He became the Wild’s director of player personnel in 2022, and was promoted to assistant general manager in 2024.
When selecting players, Chris said, it’s not just about picking the most skilled athletes. The Olympic team needs players willing to buy into lesser roles than those they hold on their NHL teams, often shifting from the top line or defensive pairing in their professional teams to lower lines and reserve roles. What USA Hockey looks for, Chris said, is if players can adjust.
“We’re not just picking an All-Star team,” he said. “I was a little more boots-on-the-ground because that’s my background and what I do for Minnesota. My job was really just gathering a lot of information on the players and updating [the staff] on how they’re playing currently and then we’d as a group figure out if they fit.”
Pat is the oldest of the five Kelleher brothers. Chris is the third. Their father was the late Belmont sports titan Daniel Kelleher, a Massachusetts Hockey Hall of Famer and former winner of the Wm. Thayer Tutt Award, USA Hockey’s highest volunteer honor. Their brother, Brendan Kelleher, is the coach of the Belmont High School girls hockey team.
Their mother, Maura, and younger brothers, Ryan and Tim, made the trip to Italy. Their immediate families also traveled to Italy, totaling 10 Kellehers at the Games.
Once hockey kicked off, the Kellehers got to work. Their teams came through.
“Two kids who grew up playing hockey in Belmont, to be a part of this is amazing,” Pat said. “It’s incredible. We still obviously have deep connections to Belmont having our mother there, it hits in the feels a little bit.”
