It’s been reported lately that Montreal Canadiens’ blueliner Lane Hutson’s snub for the American Olympic orientation camp was a message sent to the youngster because he declined to take part in the World Championship after the Canadiens were eliminated from the playoffs.
As a result, some started speculating that the Nick Suzuki snub at the 4 Nations Face-Off by Team Canada might have been down to the same reason. The chatter prompted Tampa Bay Lightning GM and Team Canada assistant GM Julien BriseBois to set the record straight.
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According to BriseBois, there is no politics involved in the Team Canada selection; it all comes down to selecting the players that will give the Canadian team the best opportunities to win.
However, the Lightning GM felt the need to add that while not going to the World Championship cannot hurt a player’s chances of being called upon to play in the Olympics, attending does allow the people in charge to get a better feel for the players they might not already know very well.
It makes sense for those in charge to select players whose abilities and capabilities they actually know. Thinking about the 4 Nations’ tournament, Team Canada had three members of the Lightning, while the Bolts’ coach was at the helm of the Canadiens team.
Still, if a player performs incredibly well in the regular season and forces Team Canada to take notice, they could make the Olympic roster. Suzuki certainly did that at the end of last season, and if he wants to head to Milano Cortina in February, he’ll need to do just that, once again.
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