It is a nation of 33 million people and if it really wanted Canada could send its “B” hockey team to the Winter Olympics in February and still win a gold medal. Nothing else will do as the Canadians prepare to host the world in Vancouver. Anything less than gold will unleash a torrent of self-criticism north of the border. Wednesday afternoon we found out which NHL players made the cut – and Capitals defenseman Mike Green was not one of them.
That’s a significant blow to Green, 24, who leads all NHL defensemen in points with 38 and is tied for the lead in goals with nine. Last season he was a first-team All-NHL performer and scored 31 goals – the most by a defenseman since 1993. He also set a league record last February with at least one goal in eight straight games and was a Norris Trophy finalist. Oh – his 18 goals led NHL defensemen in 2007-08, too. But in the end it wasn’t enough.
Even harder to take – Green reportedly wasn’t the last player cut by Hockey Canada officials. According to TSN hockey analyst Bob McKenzie, that final choice was between Calgary’s Jay Bouwmeester and Los Angeles’ Drew Doughty. In that case, Green can’t even use his age as a reason for his exclusion because executive director Steve Yzerman went with Doughty, who just turned 20 on Dec. 8.
“The great players seem to just get better so fast,” said Team Canada coach Mike Babcock on NHL Network. “[Doughty] is great in his own zone, a matchup guy who plays against the best players every night…In the end, we decided he’s going to be a great fit.”
That’s a testament to Doughty. Late last season, I asked one Caps player about some of the top rookies in the league and specifically mentioned Doughty. The player scoffed and said he barely noticed him on the ice when the Caps played the Kings on Nov. 21, 2008. Doughty’s obviously made a huge leap since then.
Green isn’t out of it completely, of course. An injury to any of the seven defensemen chosen between now and February will open a spot. But will that matter if Green indeed wasn’t the last player cut?
“Here’s the top scoring defenseman in the National Hockey League and I don’t want to say he wasn’t in the mix because obviously at some point he was,” McKenzie said. “But when it came down to the nitty gritty Mike Green wasn’t in the mix.”
Bouwmeester seems next in line. Green’s best chance would be if someone like San Jose’s Dan Boyle was hurt – a defenseman with offensive skills comparable to Green’s, but at this point in his career more reliable in his own end. We’ve all seen Green struggle at times with poor turnovers. Part of that is the nature of his game. He’s so good going forward that those risks naturally expose him.
But some nights Green’s focus wavers. And while that doesn’t change his overall impact – or make him remotely a liability, as a vocal minority claims – it probably gave Hockey Canada executives pause. Could Green really be trusted in a tournament so packed with meaning for the host country? For me, his presence as a power-play specialist made sense. There’s so much talent on that blueline you could allow Green to do what he does better than anyone with the man-advantage or late in a game if Canada is down a goal or two. Remember, this team placed seventh at the Torino Olympics in 2006 in large part because of its offensive woes.
Green’s teammates were supportive before they heard the news. Nicklas Backstrom said it “would be a joke” if Green didn’t make it. Tomas Fleischmann, himself named to the Czech Republic team on Wednesday, concurred.
“Mike should make it,” Fleischmann said. “The problem is that Canada has so much good players, they can pick from so many. But Mike is a great player. I really do think he should be on it.”
