Columnist image

Host, TSN The Reporters with Dave Hodge

| Archive

At selection time, the Team Canada headlines are always about the “snubs”, the players who didn’t make it. And so, this time, the names in the headlines are those of P.K. Subban, Kris Letang, Corey Perry and Taylor Hall, to name four.

They could have been picked, in which case the names in the headlines would have been Alex Pietrangelo, Jake Muzzin, Joe Thornton and Claude Giroux. Okay, that’s not quite true. Subban, Letang, Perry and Hall were on a lot of the “likely to be added” lists, and the other four didn’t appear on many, if any.

But there’s a reason for each of the so-called “surprises”, and especially in the case of Thornton, the choice is an inspired one. He has belonged before, simply because of his passing and playmaking skills. Now, he’s there because he has helped his San Jose Sharks team into the Stanley Cup final, and it was just too tough to ignore him.

“Thumbs up” to a guy whose rooting section has always been large, but nothing like the current audience that’s as happy to see him on Team Canada as it is to watch him in the Stanley Cup final.

In the end, Team Canada selections are usually the right ones. It makes sense to assume that every time.

Embedded Image

You’ve heard it or maybe you’ve said it yourself; if Steven Stamkos put himself at any risk to return to the ice for Game 7 against Pittsburgh, he surely wants to remain with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

In my opinion, one has nothing to do with the other. Stamkos did what any other injured or physically-challenged player would do if allowed to do it; he played in a game that could have sent him and his team to the Stanley Cup Final, and “thumbs up” to him for being willing and able to do that, here and now.

Next season is next season. The likelihood that Stamkos will explore free agency and wind up somewhere other than Tampa Bay is as strong as it was before Thursday night, whether or not the captain of the Lightning suited up.

This season is this season. That’s as far ahead as Stamkos would have been thinking when he made the decision to play.

Did he think that it might be the last time he did that for Tampa Bay? No, probably not, because he would have been thinking about a win and four or more games against San Jose in the Stanley Cup final.

So what now, following the agonizing 2-1 defeat in Pittsburgh? All the theories about Stamkos’ future are hunches, and here’s mine. Without a healthy Stamkos, the Tampa Bay Lightning have had considerable success. Without a player like Stamkos, a lot of teams have searched for playoff success without finding it.

The hunch, then, is that the best free-agent offer Stamkos receives comes from one of those “other” teams.