Possible reasons Subban left off Team Canada

[Uncle Bill]

I like subban. Fun to watch. Talented. Unpredictable as hell. Montreal is a much better team with Weber. Much better. Weber is gold on D.

 

[Evergreen]

Subban can play his offside so try again

It's not about being able to play your off side. It's about being left or right handed. If you're so certain that Subban didn't make the team because of some sort of unfairness, then how do you explain Letang not making the team? Subban and Letang are similar players and Letang even had a better season than Subban.

I like Subban a lot, but it's not just about picking the best players. It's about having the right balance of players and trying to create chemistry in a short time frame.

 

[Macman]

Here is the thing. We pay to see Subban and Letang not Bouwmeester. These guys have lost the plot. This is hockey, entertainment, not war. I want to see the best players not a silly boys club political game.

Babcock is not the show. I really don't care what bs excuses they want to make to for choosing politics and backroom favours over the fans. Put the best players on the team. These guys are stuck in the 1950's.

edit: that quote from Price sounds like years of indoctrination from second rate coaches like Therrien.

And those fans would be the first to call for heads if Canada doesn't win.

 

[WesMcCauley]

its odd Team Canada

has

4 Rightys playing now ... Doughty, Weber, Burns, Pietrangelo 1 Pietrangelo is playing his offside.

The 4 should all be there... Adding and playing Subban or Letang both righties would make it 5 out 6 in the lineup.

Personally i would pick Letang and Subban over Pietreangelo. Not alot better but they both Are extremely good puckmovers. Piet is good dont get me wrong but i wouldnt pick him over Subban and Letang. I would also easily pick st.louis on the last two olympic teams because he was one of the top point scorers in the nhl. Guess Babcock and his guys think otherwise. Its working for them but its how it is because they could make two teams Who both could compete against any team in this tournament and the olympics.
Bouwmeester and Muzzin is a joke... I get they dont have alot of high end lh options but cmon... Subban, letang etc could easily play both sides.

 

[pucka lucka]

And those fans would be the first to call for heads if Canada doesn't win.

SO you seriously think Bouwmeester is the lynch pin? That argument is a total red herring. The reason league teams have role players is because there isn't enough talent to go around not because its the best tactic.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

No kidding right?

Price basically said PK wouldn't listen to his coach.

He did?

 

[Skobel24]

Here is the thing. We pay to see Subban and Letang not Bouwmeester. These guys have lost the plot. This is hockey, entertainment, not war. I want to see the best players not a silly boys club political game.

Babcock is not the show. I really don't care what bs excuses they want to make to for choosing politics and backroom favours over the fans. Put the best players on the team. These guys are stuck in the 1950's.

edit: that quote from Price sounds like years of indoctrination from second rate coaches like Therrien.

Then go watch an all-star game. Every team has one goal. Win. If they think taking Bouw over Subban will help, then you do it.

 

[James Underbuss*]

Subban is a me player, not a team player. Too much flash, too much distraction. In a short tournament, you need to A) build a "team" and B) have that team gel real quick-like.

For all Subban's offensive prowess, his deficiencies are too glaring and too much of a distraction for TC to be bothered when there are a dozen other world class Canadian Dmen to pick from. I wouldn't want Subban on my team either.

 

[bert]

Then what's the reason for Letang?

Yeah he's better than Subban. Also plays the left side on a regular basis.

 

[pucka lucka]

Then go watch an all-star game. Every team has one goal. Win. If they think taking Bouw over Subban will help, then you do it.

Umm this is a tournament for my entertainment as a fan. Do you think this stuff has some bigger meaning? Are peoples lives at stake? THis is an all-star tournament.

Name a team where Bouwmeester is a legit #1?

 

[Skobel24]

Umm this is a tournament for my entertainment as a fan. Do you think this stuff has some bigger meaning? Are peoples lives at stake? THis is an all-star tournament.

Name a team where Bouwmeester is a legit #1?

Personally, I'd have no problems with having Bouwmeester as a #1 D. He's not flashy, but he's a strong shutdown guy. He's a responsible player, who makes very few mistakes. Canada has some more offensive guys on that team. I'm not saying Bouw is better than the guys who were left off, but he does fit the role that they needed.

As for it being for entertainment, of course it's for entertainment. Everyone involved in that tournament is there to win though. No GM is thinking "Would taking Subban make the games more exciting to watch". They want to win.

 

[Big Easy]

Subban isn't on the team because he's a risk taker. Canada is stacked with talent. There is plenty of skill to go around and we don't need gamblers, especially on the back end. His style is great in the NHL where any team he play's on, will not have the depth of talent as team Canada. So it gives him the ability to rush the puck and try to create offence.
On team Canada, we just need our D to be positionally sound, push bodies and pucks away from the net and make short passes to a bunch of highly skilled forwards.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

Umm this is a tournament for my entertainment as a fan. Do you think this stuff has some bigger meaning? Are peoples lives at stake? THis is an all-star tournament.

Name a team where Bouwmeester is a legit #1?

Your goal is entertainment, their goal is winning. You might think of it as an all-star tournament but that isn't how the players view it. Players don't get injured, check, block shots and take penalties generally in an all star game.

 

[pucka lucka]

Your goal is entertainment, their goal is winning. You might think of it as an all-star tournament but that isn't how the players view it. Players don't get injured, check, block shots and take penalties generally in an all star game.

Umm, no my goal is seeing the best players win. We give these guys a break because even with Bouwmeester TC is great. Looks what happens when you don't have the depth of Canada(pssst, Team USA) and choose lesser talent than you have available.

There is no dichotomy here. Choosing the best players and winning aren't mutually exclusive choices.

 

[Skobel24]

Umm this is a tournament for my entertainment as a fan. Do you think this stuff has some bigger meaning? Are peoples lives at stake? THis is an all-star tournament.

Name a team where Bouwmeester is a legit #1?

Also, based on the bolded, we could question why an NHL team would put a team together to win, rather than just play entertaining hockey. Lives aren't at stake, and it's for entertainment. Why bother trying to put a solid team together when they could just take the flashier guys.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

Umm, no my goal is seeing the best players win. We give these guys a break because even with Bouwmeester TC is great. Looks what happens when you don't have the depth of Canada(pssst, Team USA) and choose lesser talent than you have available.

There is no dichotomy here. Choosing the best players and winning aren't mutually exclusive choices.

You think Canada isn't icing the best team, the people running the team do. You can argue that Subban is a better player but they clearly don't think he's the best choice for winning. You might think a team of the best players has the best shot but the professionals disagree and I'm going to have to trust them.

 

[MacDonald4MVP]

Hearing how Price said that Subban didnt exactly tried to implement his coaches strategy and rather did his own thing I don't know if Babcock would actually dress him even if he was at his disposal.

 

[Skobel24]

Umm, no my goal is seeing the best players win. We give these guys a break because even with Bouwmeester TC is great. Looks what happens when you don't have the depth of Canada(pssst, Team USA) and choose lesser talent than you have available.

There is no dichotomy here. Choosing the best players and winning aren't mutually exclusive choices.

Canada had several snubs for the 2010 Olympics who were definitely better than some of the players taken. So did the US. Remember how that ended? (Hint: They both went to the Gold Medal game.)

Edit: Accidentally put 2014, not 2010. Same thing happened in 2014 though. Canada had several guys who "should have been there" that weren't.

Building a team purely around skill is a major gamble that will more often than not have flaws. Canada has been successful because they build an actual team.

 

[Skobel24]

You think Canada isn't icing the best team, the people running the team do. You can argue that Subban is a better player but they clearly don't think he's the best choice for winning. You might think a team of the best players has the best shot but the professionals disagree and I'm going to have to trust them.

Exactly. If throwing a bunch of the best players together worked, the 2002-2004 Rangers would have had success.

 

[ijuka]

In my opinion, the reason is simple: Even if he's a slightly better player than player x, that will likely not mean the difference between winning and losing for a team like Canada. On the other hand, if a player like Subban makes a stupid mistake that causes a goal against, that can mean the difference between winning and losing.


Basically, when it's a long season you can take the more risky player and his good plays will outweigh the bad ones and he'll be a net positive, but if it's a short tournament where every match matters, you want to avoid players who can potentially make mistakes that end up losing the game.

 

[Pyrophorus]

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

Khabibuiln played for the CIS and Russia only.
Deadmarsh, Leroux and Hull all had an American parent

I think Babcock has qualms about his game.
He likes to strangle and play keep away, and doesn't like his D getting out of position too much. He still believes Rielly needs to polish his D game.

 

[Stopsight]

I hope they keep leaving Subban off because honestly the level of outrage some fans display is so disproportionate to the slight it is just hilarious

 

[Pietrangelbro]

Am I the only one who thinks Pietrangelo is overrated? Subban is much better than Pietro at this moment in time, has been for a while, and will be in the future. Pietro was better in 2012.

 

[pucka lucka]

In my opinion, the reason is simple: Even if he's a slightly better player than player x, that will likely not mean the difference between winning and losing for a team like Canada. On the other hand, if a player like Subban makes a stupid mistake that causes a goal against, that can mean the difference between winning and losing.


Basically, when it's a long season you can take the more risky player and his good plays will outweigh the bad ones and he'll be a net positive, but if it's a short tournament where every match matters, you want to avoid players who can potentially make mistakes that end up losing the game.

Doesn't hold up though. Almost everyone of those forwards are huge risk takers. Why don't we play the opposite game. How many goals for do we give up without Letang or Subban? Why are we conditioned to be so accepting of coaching narratives.

Good teams increase their chances by upping the score, not keeping it low. Keeping it low allows bad luck to have a huge impact on the outcome. They are fundamentally doing it wrong. This isn't hard to understand.

 

[ijuka]

Doesn't hold up though. Almost everyone of those forwards are huge risk takers. Why don't we play the opposite game. How many goals for do we give up without Letang or Subban? Why are we conditioned to be so accepting of coaching narratives.

Good teams increase their chances by upping the score, not keeping it low. Keeping it low allows bad luck to have a huge impact on the outcome. They are fundamentally doing it wrong. This isn't hard to understand.

A forward making a mistake is pretty different from the lowest D making a mistake.