It is a nation of 33 million people, and if it really wanted, Canada could probably 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.
Recommended Stories
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.
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. “[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.”
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 wasn’t even 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,” Mackenzie said. “But when it came down to the nitty gritty, Mike Green wasn’t in the mix.”
