Most surprising Olympic omissions

TEAM CANADA – JOE THORNTON

Joe Thornton belongs to the very best the National Hockey League has to offer these days. The big centre from London, Ontario, is a leader on the San Jose Sharks team that is again one of the Stanley Cup contenders in this season. The captain of the California-based team and an NHL veteran of sixteen years was left off the Canadian Olympic team, even though his six goals and amazing 47 assists in 51 games of this season are good enough for the seventh place among league's leading point-scorers. Also, „Jumbo Joe“ played for Canada at two Olympics already, in Torino and Vancouver. He only has five points over the two tournaments, but when he doesn't contribute on the scoreboard, he does off it. Pure leader and one of the reasons why the Sharks are always a playoff team was left off by Team Canada GM Steve Yzerman and given the fact that you need more than just stars and point-producers and that the team already has enough leadership with Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews on the lineup, the decision is probably much more reasonable than it seems at the very first moment.

TEAM CZECH REPUBLIC – JIŘÍ HUDLER

Jiří Hudler used to be a great talent and if it wasn't for his character, his name could've meant much more than it does now. That might be the reason why he's not going to Sochi with the Czech team as head coach Alois Hadamczik is known to have a little feud with the Calgary forward. However, he stated that the feud didn't influence the nomination, but Hudler's history might have. One thing is sure – Hudler's turned himself around in this season and has stepped up into a leading role with the Calgary Flames. He currently leads the team with 40 points in 52 games, which is 16 more than the second player in team's point-scoring, captain Mark Giordano, has got. The 30-year-old winger has been praised by Flames head coach Bob Hartley numerous times this season for his on- and off-ice behavior, even taking highly-touted rookie Sean Monahan under his wings and showing him the ropes, letting him stay at Hudler's place. The native of Olomouc, Czech Republic, has grown into a good character forward and it's amazing that he's turned that around. Now, let's hope the hockey world notices and shows him some respect.

TEAM USA – KEITH YANDLE

The Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Keith Yandle was one of the most surprising omissions of the American team, but, unlike in case of Joe Thornton, even if you look at all aspects of the game, there's no good reason to be found. The two-way defenseman might actually be the best American D of this season and he's taking his play up into the highest levels. Excelling both offensively and defensively, Yandle has been an alternate captain for the Phoenix team for four seasons already and has shown his character in other ways, too. Being a native of Boston, he responded to the Boston Marathon bombing in the best possible way, playing a game with „Pray for Boston“ written on his skates. Delivering a message like that is also what makes hockey as good as it is and shows how much of a leader Yandle is. If he keeps his pace this season, he might get very close to 60 points for the second time in his eight-year career and that's huge for a blueliner.

TEAM SLOVAKIA – MIROSLAV ŠATAN

The best Slovak player ever? Miroslav Šatan is one of those who are very close to that kind of recognition, even though there might be some names that are closer. Šatan was supposed to be chosen into the team even though he's not what he used to be, naturally. But, eight points in twelve KHL games this year, that's great for somebody who will turn 40 this year. The native of Topoľčany, Slovakia, played at the Olympics four times, first in 1994 even before he played his first NHL game. That time, he had amazing nine goals in eight games and would go on to play fourteen NHL seasons, accumulate a total of 1,050 NHL games and collect 735 career points. After serving as Team Slovakia captain at the last World Championships, who would be a better fit for that position for Sochi?

TEAM CANADA – MARTIN ST. LOUIS

Big heart is what wins you the Stanley Cup or an Olympic Gold. Or both. Martin St. Louis did win the Stanley Cup in 2004 with his Tampa Bay Lightning team, but would probably just love to add a gold medal from the Olympics to his collection. With all respect to Peter Forsberg, this hockey generation will always think St. Louis first when „heart“ is mentioned. At 173 centimeters, nobody plays bigger than he does. And nobody deserves that gold more than he does. It was expected that he'd be chosen to Sochi. Lightning GM Steve Yzerman composed the team and everyone was stunned after finding out he hadn't included the reigning Art Ross Trophy winner. What will happen now? The Quebecois warrior will play as well as he's played so far and go to the next Olympics. 

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