Late Friday, a couple of Blue Jackets players were named to the USA World Cup of Hockey team. Brandon Dubinsky and Jack Johnson were a couple of surprise inclusions on this list given the names left off of the roster.
ICYMI: Team USA announced their final #WCH2016 roster, Kessel left off list. https://t.co/q9IjMiUh18 pic.twitter.com/ArgF6P7iDJ
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 28, 2016
Dubinsky, who recently turned 30, hasn’t seen much meaningful time with Team USA except for World Championship tournaments. His selection seems to be way off the board but not entirely undeserved. We have covered multiple times just how underrated he is, not only on the Jackets, but around the league as well. I am excited to see what he can do on this type of stage.
Johnson is a little more peculiar selection. After being left off of the most recent Olympic roster, it seemed like his time representing the USA was in the past. Johnson had one of his worst years statistically and yet, he was still named to the roster. That means they left Keith Yandle, Justin Faulk and Kevin Shattenkirk off of the team. All in my opinion are remarkably better than Johnson.
As most of you know John Tortorella is the head coach of Team USA and should provide a level of toughness and grit that should fit the design of this team. Will it work against highly skilled teams like Canada and Sweden? It seems unlikely but this exhibition tournament should be a fun platform to watch this all play out.
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