Possible reasons Subban left off Team Canada

[CapitalsCupReality]

The same reasons he's not in Montreal? Asking....It's good to be the King of Hockey and be able to cast away all stars and likely HOF'ers....

 

[respect the D]

Yes, Montreal has that kind of power where they said don't let SUBBAN on the team....ahhh he was not on it before they traded him!!!!! Not sure if OP was serious.... Get over it he is very good....but his attitude and lack of leadership will follow him until he decides to mature. Maybe some day he can be picked first all the time to team Canada you know like his replacement...Weber

 

[CrypTic]

i cannot comment on your speculation, however i respectfully disagree about Vlasic. This guy might not be a scoring machine like subban, but he prevents more goals than anyone in the game. Not questioning the greatness of Pk Subban, just the obvious notion that his style of play is high risk with a high reward. With vlasic you are getting a more than steady stay at home dman that can keep pucks out. With the system team canada/babcock is pushing, pk is not a fit.

imo canada needs more puck movers. doughty and burns are good but after that who else can move the puck at an elite level? i even question burns sometimes. team canada really is missing out on letang and subban.

Vlasic is not a stay at home d-man. I don't know why ppl keep repeating that. (Obviously don't watch the Sharks.) He's excellent at moving the puck. He's a defensively-oriented PMD. He's not great at scoring, though he had 39 points in 67 games played last season (~= 48 points/82 GP or ~15th among NHL defensemen), and you don't want him on your PP.

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.

I agree with the bolded. That's how many of the players are chosen and if you don't go when asked (even if you have minor injuries), it's very difficult to play in more important games.

 

[smitty10]

He's a righty and isn't better than Burns, Pietrangelo, Doughty or Weber. If it was Canada's best 7 defensemen then yes he and Letang would be there, but since they want 3 left-handed dmen, he doesn't make the cut.

 

[BLNY]

The only reason Vlasic is there imo is Burns.

 

[struckbyaparkedcar]

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?

Burns can be explained by there being one spot for the riskier offensive types, TC viewing all of Burns/Subban/Letang in that archetype, and picking the player coming off the best season.

 

[dubey]

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

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

Classic response when someone doesn't agree with someone else's opinion

Politics! Old boys club! This is why they never win!

Wait.. maybe they do know something I don't

 

[BruinsBtn]

Coaches want 100% buy in and commitment to the system. Subban doesn't roll that way.

 

[Skobel24]

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 comment needs to be stickied.

 

[capebretoncanadien]

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

I could see it for sure. Even though EK tilts the ice decidedly in his teams favor basically all the time he would be deemed "too risky".

They would probably rather Methot.

 

[Skobel24]

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.

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.

Bouwmeester is a solid two-way/shutdown dman. He's there to play a specific role. Subban is absolutely better than Bouwmeester, but if I have to kill a penalty in the final minute of a game when we're up by 1, I put Bouw out before Subban. Guys like Weber and Burns can fill the same role that Subban would have.

Canada did not take the best players available. They built a team. There are plenty of players you can argue about and how they 'should have been there', but at the end of the day, they take the guys who they think gives them the best chance.

For what it's worth, I didn't like the Bouwmeester option either, but I understand why he's there. Chemistry with Pietrangelo, and he's a defensive option alongside Vlasic.

End of the day, Canada doesn't like Wildcards. They almost always opt for the safer two-way types with experience.

 

[ronnyweed]

Get rid of the under 23 limit for NA, let Canada and USA pick their teams and NA gets their pick of the rest, then you have Subban and Letang with a chip on their shoulder and NA likely is a huge threat to win it all.

Why the NHL has a format that lets players like this sit at home is puzzling.

 

[Mr Positive]

The logic for selecting some of the odd choices might have to do with keeping NHL chemistry going, even if it doesn't always line up that way:

Muzzin-Doughty (LA)
Bouwmeester-Pietrangelo (St.Louis)
Vlasic-Burns (SJ, although both are good enough)

Weber is a team Canada mainstay

It's Canada. We can leave off the best players sometimes for other reasons. I recall the method of selecting players like it was an all-star team burned Canada in the past, like the Nagano Olympics I believe. Now we always have picks like Kunitz and Marchand and it seems to work better that way.

 

[Mark Kandy]

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

I agree with this. Huuuuuuge Subban fan. But Doughty is the man!

And actually the "possible turnovers" factor may have played a role in his non-selection. As good as Subban is, sometimes his play decision in a X context isn't the best.

 

[bohlmeister]

I remember when the Subbanator was on the team at Sochi. He played 1 game and played his usual PK is #1, selfish, try and make something out of nothing and get stuck on the wrong side of the puck hockey. Babcock sat him and didn't look back. Team Canada is about putting the team before your ego. Subban doesn't seem to play that way. He plays his own brand of hockey. Now I enjoy watching it, and really love that there is a player like him. Creative, skilled, huge personality, etc. I am a fan of Subbans. But there is no doubting why a team that plays so disciplined and structured doesn't want Subban on it. No he shouldn't be there. Look at how this team plays. It isn't about politics. It is about control, discipline, structure, and simple hockey.

 

[Sureves]

Burns can be explained by there being one spot for the riskier offensive types, TC viewing all of Burns/Subban/Letang in that archetype, and picking the player coming off the best season.

Right, your original post seemed to suggest that Canada didn't want ANY defenseman of that nature which is why I was confused.

He bottom line then is that Burns was picked over Subban.

 

[Sureves]

I could see it for sure. Even though EK tilts the ice decidedly in his teams favor basically all the time he would be deemed "too risky".

They would probably rather Methot.

I'm confident saying Karlsson would have made the team. The question to me is would they have kept Burns and put him on the left side and tell J-Bo or Muzzin to pack his things?

 

[Stjonnypopo]

Coaches want 100% buy in and commitment to the system. Subban doesn't roll that way.

I'm not sure that he doesn't roll that way, he would definitely adapt to the system, but would he be 100% on board? I don't know.

Babcock loves guys like Weber and Crosby because they're completely committed to the system he wants them to play. You can tell he has favourites (even though he gives pretty much equal ice-time) and Subban wouldn't be one of Babcock's favourites because he wouldn't trust him in all situations.

I'm sure Babcock had some say in the player selection.

 

[Scotty B]

Lefty-righty bruh

except that they seem to have no qualms in playing a right handed shot, aka Petro, on the left...

 

[Finnish your Czech]

I take Subban over every Canadian RHD except for Doughty.

A Vlasic-Subban pairing would be pretty sweet

 

[Scotty B]

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

Really? Cause from where I sit...seems like a pretty flipp'in one sided trade...in Predators favor!!!!!

Woulda been nice to have PK on the ice when TC trailed Russia 2-1 late in the third...As things stand, aside from DD, our PMD, or lack therof, wouldn't scare anybody...

Once again our Braintrust , or lack thereof, has proven itself a tad too conservative/ has over thought things.

We've got nobody, again aside from DD, anywhere near as dynamic a skater as PK/ as adept at joining the rush...

As for Thornton over Hall? Sorry, I'm still NOT seeing the logic...

TC may still win, BUT they coulda, woulda , shoulda, been even better imo

***
P.S: Hockey world , last time I checked, includes Predator's BRAIN-TRUST...just say'in

 

[MXD]

Going strictly by last season, Subban was like the 6th best RHS canadian D-Men. So....

The guy that got shafted is Letang.

 

[Phil Parent]

The logic for selecting some of the odd choices might have to do with keeping NHL chemistry going, even if it doesn't always line up that way:

Muzzin-Doughty (LA)
Bouwmeester-Pietrangelo (St.Louis)
Vlasic-Burns (SJ, although both are good enough)

Weber is a team Canada mainstay

It's Canada. We can leave off the best players sometimes for other reasons. I recall the method of selecting players like it was an all-star team burned Canada in the past, like the Nagano Olympics I believe. Now we always have picks like Kunitz and Marchand and it seems to work better that way.

Nagano's team had Shayne Corson and Rob Zamuner... I'm sure they could have picked better than those two if they wanted to pick an ASG cast.

 

[MXD]

Yes Hockey Canada is political and it is probable Geoff Molson has some clout with them.The last thing the Habs needed was Subban having a good tournament.

The selection was made before the trade.

 

[pierre gagnon*]

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.

Subban snubbed Canada at the last world championships. Letang I would have taken, he impressed me in the cup run, a real team player. Duschene and Marchand took that opportunity at the worlds and ran with it. Your last impression is the one they remember. That and he is polarizing, a gambler high giveaway stats, add up to no invite. They know what they are doing and know the inside information and behind the scenes talk. It is pretty obvious, look who they took, nuff said.