I've been posting this here for years saying the USA hockey needs to grow a pair and not let players who decline to play in the WC play in the Olympics or World Cup. But every year I get shouted down by bleeding hearts. It's good to see that there are a few people with some common sense. These prima donna babies get paid handsomely and get plenty of time in the summer for "family time". Do I need to remind everyone of the summer Kane passed on the WC because he was "injured", yet he spent his time passed out on bar tables? To me, I don't care if he won the Art Ross and wins the Hart, he would NEVER play for the US if I was in charge. The only way this changes is to give USA hockey the enema that it so desperately needs.
USAH fans don't shout you down because they're "bleeding hearts", they shout you down because your idea won't help.
Your anecdote about Kane doesn't matter. First, it's anecdotal. Second, plenty of players pass on the tournament for valid reasons, such as injuries, lack of a contract, or family time. Third, just because one isn't healthy enough to compete in a hockey tournament doesn't mean they're not able to go out to bars. That may not be how I'd prefer Kane spend his time, but it doesn't invalidate his reason for not participating that year.
Granted, that doesn't mean all of the players who continually turn down this squad are doing so for "valid" reasons. Plenty of them do so out of apathy. Why? The World Championships has never been popular in the US, and barring a change in timing, it will never be popular. It's a second tier tournament (and that's being nice) in terms of quality. The media coverage here is passing at best. It only recently became easier to watch, and that's usually at non-ideal times. It's competing against the NHL playoffs, NBA playoffs, and MLB season for the attention of sports fans. It's a niche tournament in a niche sport in a country where the majority of the hockey fans' loyalty doesn't extend beyond their NHL team. These players grew up in an environment where no one cared about this tournament just like the majority of American hockey fans.
Unless you expect no one to ever turn down the WCs (which is a pipe dream), your idea would only hurt hockey in America. Leaving players like Kane or Pacioretty or Schneider or Faulk or Wheeler off the Olympic/World Cup teams would only increase the odds that USAH does very poorly in the only two tournaments where the average sports fan will tune in. That's not good for the growth of the game, especially when you're doing so in an attempt for better results at a tournament no one in the US watches or cares about. Winning gold at the WCs would be awesome for the team and us fans that do care, but its impact on USAH would likely be small. Winning the World Cup or an Olympic Medal actually has impact. The risk of dropping your best players for a high risk, low reward outcome isn't worth it.
I'm all on-board for utilizing a player's WC participation and performance when deciding the roster for best-on-best tournaments. But that doesn't mean leaving off your best players. We don't have that luxury like Canada. WC participation should be one factor to be considered among many factors. Hypothetically, if USAH felt Justin Faulk (has almost always participated) and Keith Yandle (never participates) were pretty much equal, I'm all for them choosing Faulk due to his dedication. But it's crazy to suggest that, for example, Craig Smith should be on the Olympic Team over Kane solely due to participation.
The solution is frustrating because it's not a quick fix, but USAH needs to do a lot better churning out high-end NHL talent. European countries and players love this tournament as they grew up with it, so apathy isn't their issue, sometimes it's just the depth of their talent. Canada is the second most apathetic towards this tournament, but they have a lot more talent to tap for their roster. That's the solution to apathy. If you're deciding between many high-end players, it's feasible to use WC participation as a deciding factor. Those high-end guys really want to be on the Olympic team, so they participate in the WCs because it's their chance to audition and potentially differentiate themselves from another high-end player. It's partly why Hockey Canada can afford to leave a Giroux, Couture, or Thornton off their best teams because they're being replaced by other high-end talent like Sharp, Duchene, or Carter.
USAH doesn't have that luxury, and it's why your idea won't work.
