The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy are fast approaching, and on Wednesday, Dec. 31, Team Canada announced it’s official roster for the tournament.
The team features some of the best hockey players on the planet in Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, and Cale Makar, amongst many, many others on a star studded roster. Although one guy named Connor has always been a lock as the best player in the NHL, another Connor has been snubbed from the roster despite his rising stardom.
That Connor is, of course, Connor Bedard, the Chicago Blackhawks star who has shined in his third NHL season. At just 20 years old, Bedard is one of the most exciting young faces in the NHL; he has 44 points this season in just 31 games.
Bedard was left off of the Canadian roster during the Four-Nations Face Off last winter, though that snub was relatively justified as he was still showing signs of his youth at just 19 years of age. Now that he has turned his game up a notch, on a bad Chicago team nonetheless, this snub feels more egregious.
Bedard Left Off of Canadian Olympic Team
One of the bigger factors in Bedard missing the cut may have been his shoulder injury, which has kept him out since Dec. 12. He just returned to Blackhawks practices this week, though there is no timeline for his return yet.
Even with the injury though, he would have been more than healthy enough by early February, which is when the Olympics start.
Bedard has flashed on the International stage before in his career. In the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championships, Bedard had an astounding 23 points in seven games; those are video game stats.
Now there is some potential justification for leaving Bedard and other talented players off of a roster with so much depth. Canada obviously has an embarrassment of riches as far as their talent pool goes, but four offensive lines of scoring forwards isn’t necessarily a recipe for success, no matter how good the players are.
For example, the roster includes guys like Tom Wilson, Brandon Hagel, and Bo Horvat; talented players, sure, but they play a grittier, power forward type of game that will pay off as far as dominating other teams physically goes.
Still, many people believe that Bedard is a top-10 Canadian born forward, and they’re probably right. His talent is undeniable.
Maybe this snub will act as a source of spite for Bedard and he’ll elevate his game even more when he returns from injury.
International Hockey Hype at an All Time High
With NHL players returning to the Olympics for the first time since 2014, hockey fans around the world are anxiously awaiting what should be a barn-burner of a tournament. Last year’s Four-Nations Face Off showed how invested people were in “best-on-best” hockey, and it delivered some of the best moments in the sport in recent memory.
Team Canada and Team USA played in two of the most entertaining hockey games of the last decade. The round-robin matchup was a win for Team USA, with three fights occurring in the first nine seconds of the game, but Team Canada got it’s revenge with a 3-2 overtime win in the Championship game.
This year’s Olympics are sure to thrill with other challengers like Czechia, Sweden, Finland, and Slovakia also looking to make a push against the two powerhouses in USA and Canada.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Blackhawks Superstar Snubbed From Team Canada Olympic Roster appeared first on Heavy Sports.