Possible reasons Subban left off Team Canada

[GoAwayDanCleary]

This is the Subban that was just traded by Montreal? It's like the hockey world knows something you don't.

Or they think they know more than they really do.

 

[Big Phil]

I had Subban on my team. I also had him playing a more pivotal role in 2014.

However, Team Canada gets this every tournament. Steve Yzerman for whatever reason was cut in 1991. That still doesn't make sense to me even though Canada never lost a game that tournament.

All I can say about this is that Canada just won their opening game 6-0 against the Czechs. They outshot them 50-27. I consider myself quite the hockey expert but at the end of the day I haven't sat down an analyzed to death the role each player is going to play the way the coaching staff and Hockey Canada has. Jake Muzzin is a weird choice and he may not play a whole lot but for whatever reason he made the team. I prefer Subban because he would thrive in this situation with elite forwards at his disposal. I think any "wrongs" Subban makes he more than makes up for it offensively.

That being said, Canada has the mobility in Doughty and Burns. They would have had it in Keith as well had he not gotten injured. Pietrangelo also can play an offensive role to an extent as can Weber. Vlasic is just that guy who is steady as a horse, and you need that sometimes.

Me personally I think Letang is the bigger omission. I'm not sure what Letang would have to do more to get on Team Canada. My Team Canada includes Letang and Subban and while we're at it...........Seabrook. But even so, one of those three would have to be cut even on my team.

Canada is just too deep, they have options. We just lost Benn and Seguin and didn't miss a beat. So I can complain, and we all can, but how can you when we just won a game 6-0 and outshot our opponents at a 2-1 margin?

 

[Do Make Say Think]

I have no idea why trying to communicate this simple concept to so many people is like...




RH shooting defencemen like that do not have high level experience playing their off side. The relative scarcity of RH shooters means that these guys come up through the ranks playing almost exclusively their strong RHD side.

It's exacerbated in a short one and done type tournament with no real time to familiarize, and where one mistake due to unfamiliarity can mean the end of your chances.

A polarizing and sometimes volatile risk/reward player like Subban who already has trouble fitting within rigid systems play just compounds the issue even further. The way Canada wants to play, they're demanding simplicity from their defence. Just break up plays, move the puck up quick and easy to the All Star caliber forwards. They don't need, or even want a guy freelancing all over the ice like Subban's strong suit.

And when you've already got guys like Doughty, Pietrangelo, Weber, Burns...there's absolutely zero need for more RHD offence or PP ability.


There's no conspiracy here. Subban just isn't one of the 3 best RHD Canada has available. Especially when it comes down to being one of the 3 or 4 best RHD for the type of systems play Canada wants to employ.

This is HF boards

Most posters on here don't watch games that don't involve the team they cheer for and you expect them to pay attention to the finer details of the game?

 

[Bleeker]

Its political old boys club ********.

PK Subban is the best right-handed Canadian defenseman on the planet.

LOL nope, it's Doughty by a fair margin, and i'm a big Subban fan

 

[Big Phil]

LOL nope, it's Doughty by a fair margin, and i'm a big Subban fan

While we're at it, probably Letang too. Weber was just traded for him straight up a couple of months ago. This is nothing against Subban, he just has a lot of competition.

 

[aufheben]

They just might be better when you're trying to win hockey games. Just saying.

Really, Bouwmeester? Sorry, on what planet does Jay Bouwmeester give you a better chance to win than PK Subban or Kris Letang lol

People put way too much stock into these tournament selections. Like when Brooks Orpik made team USA over Yandle a few years ago. There's always so much appeal to authority regarding Subban but it's rarely mentioned that a very well-run, Cup-contending team traded their captain for him. Not to mention the Nashville pumps out quality defenders like a factory.

 

[hohosaregood]

Vlasic's probably a better PK player than PK.

 

[JeremyTB]

The only way Canada will lose this tourney is if they beat themselves. That is why Vlasic is on this team and not Subban. Vlasic won't make many mistakes if any whereas Subban is so unpredictable. They already have guys on the blueline that are good offensively but need guys who are very good defensively also and there are not many better than Vlasic in that regard.

 

[Paul4587]

It's gotta be the officials of Team Canada being associated with the Canadiens right? And their disdain for PK?

In no universe are Jay Bowmeester, Jake Muzzin and Marc-Edouard Vlasic better ice hockey players than PK Subban.

I hope PK comes back with a vengance against his former team and Hockey in Canada in general.

You've just compared three LHS with a RHS. Subban was competing with Weber, Burns, Doughty and Pietrangelo and was rightfully left off. I would have gone with Letang over PK also.

Oh and Vlasic is a better hockey player than Letang. Muzzin and Bouwmeester aren't but they play the left, not the right. The bigger travesty's are Brodie and Giordano being overlooked for Bouwmeester.

 

[Macman]

Only in this place would we be questioning the defensive choices of a team that gave up only three goals in Sochi and started with a shutout at the World Cup.

 

[ulvvf]

A shame that Letang and Subban is not among the staffs favorites

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Like honestly....People continually complain about how Babcock constructs his defense and it just keeps working. Like I just honestly don't see how you can complain about this team they have consistently shown how dominant they are defensively.

 

[Nordic*]

I would love for Canada to have invited Subban & Letang - it would make it a lot easier to score on you.

 

[Willy Stylez]

It's gotta be the officials of Team Canada being associated with the Canadiens right? And their disdain for PK?

In no universe are Jay Bowmeester, Jake Muzzin and Marc-Edouard Vlasic better ice hockey players than PK Subban.

I hope PK comes back with a vengance against his former team and Hockey in Canada in general.

LD vs RD...

 

[TheDarkSideOfThePuck]

Having Subban in the line-up is a risk Canada don't need to take. They already have a ton of skill and creativity. They need role players like Bouwmeester, Muzzin and O'Reilly

They don't want a guy running around doing spinoramas every chance he gets

 

[gorangers0525]

Bouwmeester is the worst pick over him, an argument can be made that he's not a good NHL player. Canada will still win because their TEAM is the best, but holy **** they dressed far from their best defense.

 

[JackSlater]

Hockey Canada is extremely political and has their favorites. This is the reason for every time there's outrage why X wasn't chosen. If guys on the fringe want to move up the pecking order they have to do their duty at Worlds.

Hockey Canada picked Subban in 2014, and Babcock didn't want to play him. If the coach doesn't want a player there is little point picking him. As for the worlds, O'Reilly sure had to wait his turn to get picked and Hall is still waiting. No Canadian other than Duchene has done more at the worlds than them in the last few years.

is it too late for subban to go full adam deadmarsh//sydney leroux and join the states?

kidding obviously, but what exactly are the rules on that? i believe they are pretty concrete, but iirc, didn't khabibulin flip from kazakhstan to russia after playing for kazakhstan in a iihf tournament? long time ago so i forget the specifics, but that sounds familiar

also the fact he is not on the team is indeed both lol and cringe worthy

Deadmarsh had American citizenship through his mother and had never played for Canada. Subban presumably doesn't have American citizenship, and he is already locked in for Canada. It would be quite difficult for him to switch at this point. As far as I know, no Canadian NHLer who has played for Canada has ever switched to playing for the Americans at a tournament held where IIHF eligibility rules were in effect. Trottier and Tony Esposito switched to USA, but that was at Canada Cups where IIHF's rules weren't fully enforced. Scott Stevens threatened to do it but never followed through.

 

[capebretoncanadien]

Subban and Letang should both be there Team Canada has their heads up their arses taking any two of Pie, Muzzin and Jaybo over those two. They are both dynamic as all get out on offense and criminally underrated in their own end. Vlasic is actually really good and deserves to be there IMO.

The US has some glaring omissions as well....no Faulk and Kessel is just hilarious.

 

[Nithoniniel]

The players are not picked based on overall ability. If that was the case, PK would have been there. Management has clear defined roles and system expectations, and they pick the best guys according to that. They want guys that can make simple, effective and reliable decisions on a consistent basis, while playing a game that manages risks. In that context, you limit a lot of what makes Subban great.

With that said, even in a role asking for efficiency and risk management on top of skating ability, I doubt Bouwmeester is actually a great pick.

 

[capebretoncanadien]

Vlasic's probably a better PK player than PK.

I doubt it. He might be as good as PK on the PK but PK is one of the better PK players in the entire league.

 

[Sureves]

This is the Subban that was just traded by Montreal? It's like the hockey world knows something you don't.

Yep exactly. It's because people don't like PKs personality, and he's not SO GOOD that he should be on the team instead of Vlasic/J-Bo despite those issues.

 

[Sureves]

I have no idea why trying to communicate this simple concept to so many people is like...




RH shooting defencemen like that do not have high level experience playing their off side. The relative scarcity of RH shooters means that these guys come up through the ranks playing almost exclusively their strong RHD side.

It's exacerbated in a short one and done type tournament with no real time to familiarize, and where one mistake due to unfamiliarity can mean the end of your chances.

A polarizing and sometimes volatile risk/reward player like Subban who already has trouble fitting within rigid systems play just compounds the issue even further. The way Canada wants to play, they're demanding simplicity from their defence. Just break up plays, move the puck up quick and easy to the All Star caliber forwards. They don't need, or even want a guy freelancing all over the ice like Subban's strong suit.

And when you've already got guys like Doughty, Pietrangelo, Weber, Burns...there's absolutely zero need for more RHD offence or PP ability.


There's no conspiracy here. Subban just isn't one of the 3 best RHD Canada has available. Especially when it comes down to being one of the 3 or 4 best RHD for the type of systems play Canada wants to employ.

I think this is a really good post, but I'm not sure I'm on board with it.

Burns is on the team and that pretty heavily contradicts what you're saying. And what if Karlsson was Canadian? Would he have been left off the team too for those reasons?

I think it's all personality concerns with PK. Canada is the very heavy favourite to win the tournament with or without PK, and if he's going to rub ANYONE the wrong way in the dressing room, why risk it?

 

[Sureves]

The only way Canada will lose this tourney is if they beat themselves. That is why Vlasic is on this team and not Subban. Vlasic won't make many mistakes if any whereas Subban is so unpredictable. They already have guys on the blueline that are good offensively but need guys who are very good defensively also and there are not many better than Vlasic in that regard.

Again though, as I said to the other poster, if Karlsson was Canadian would he not be on the team too?

 

[Dog]

If anything, this thread should be questioning why Letang isn't on the roster.

 

[scan15*]

It's not Muzzin, Bouwmeester and Vlasic that you need to compare him to. It's Doughty, Burns, Weber, and Pietrangelo. Maybe he's on the same level as Burns, but Burns had a fantastic season while PK was involved in a trainwreck of a season.

This time there really was no reason to pick Subban.