Lightning's Tortorella to coach U.S. at world championships

TAMPA — Lightning coach John Tortorella and associate Mike Sullivan will coach the U.S. national team at the World Championships.

Officials at USA Hockey declined to comment. Lightning spokesman Bill Wickett said the team would not comment in deference to USA Hockey's process.

An announcement is expected soon. The tournament starts May 2 in Halifax and Quebec.

Tortorella, 49, will be a national head coach for the first time.

He was an assistant to Carolina's Peter Laviolette at the 2005 World Championships in Austria and is a leading candidate to head the U.S. Olympic team at the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

Sullivan, 40, coached the United States at the 2007 World Championships in Russia, where the team reached the quarterfinals. He was an assistant to Laviolette at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy.