With the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics set to begin on Feb. 7, it’s not surprising that much of the media attention in Canada has turned to the announcement of the Canadian men’s hockey team.
While it’s impossible for the Canadians not to ice a star-studded squad, given the amount of talent they have to choose from, there were some shocking omissions from the team that left many fans scratching their heads.
Any die-hard hockey fan knows that a stacked team on paper is not always indicative of future success in the sport. Just ask the 2014 World Junior Hockey Championship underdog, Finland, who recently captured gold at the event despite having the odds stacked against them. That being said, you cannot help but cringe when the Canadian national team selects a player like Marc-Édouard Vlasic over an NHL superstar such as Kris Letang. This was the case when the team unveiled its roster for the upcoming Olympic Games, along with many other surprise snubs.
The roster, which was announced on Jan. 7, excluded a few players that hockey fans far and wide expected to see suit up for the games in Sochi. However, the most publicized snub from the team was Martin St. Louis, who played for Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Steve Yzerman, the man behind the selection of the team, faced a tough decision in excluding St. Louis, as he serves as General Manager for the Tampa Bay Lightning, for which St. Louis plays.
Another exclusion which raised some eyebrows is Claude Giroux, who has catapulted himself into superstar status in the NHL over the past three seasons. Other notable omissions from the team include: Kris Letang, Joe Thornton, Eric Staal, James Neal, Logan Couture, Brent Seabrook, and Marc-André Fleury. Many of these names were considered to be locks for the team, but simply weren’t able to crack the 25-man roster.
Twitter reactions to the roster announcement from notable hockey media figures were varied. Some were positive, such as the reaction from Chris Botta, who tweeted, “Incredible rise by Tavares and Duchene, drafted just 4 years ago, to become Olympians over so many brilliant veteran forwards,” clearly excited for the chances given to newer players. Mark Lazerus expressed fear for the competition, tweeting, “Imagine a team that Joe Thornton and Martin St. Louis aren’t good enough to make. Yikes.”
Others, like Pierre LeBrun, were less enthusiastic, and seemed shocked at the exclusion of certain veteran players. Darren Dutchyshen, however, had nothing but praise for Yzerman, tweeting, “Steve Yzerman is a champ! He was in an untenable situation with St. Louis. We are all GM’s in this country. Go Canada Go!”
Dutchyshen raises a great point. We can all be arm-chair general managers and complain about who did or didn’t make the Olympic team, but at the end of the day, a lot of hard work goes into assembling a competitive team, and each player who was in the running is an incredible hockey player in their own respect.
It will be exciting to see how the team responds to the media scrutiny when they open up the tournament on Feb. 13 against Norway. Here’s to hoping Canada can defend their 2010 Olympic gold medal with a win at the 2014 games!