Subban gets snubbed again
Last time we checked, defenceman was in the top-10 in scoring among blueliners last season
Apparently Canada does not like P.K. Subban.
Well, that’s not entirely true. It just seems that way after the polarizing defenceman was once again snubbed by Team Canada’s brass on Wednesday, with Jay Bouwmeester replacing injured Duncan Keith for the World Cup of Hockey.
For those keeping score at home, it’s been a rough year for Subban.
He was left off the World Cup’s 16-man preliminary roster in March and then lost out to Brent Burns, Jake Muzzin and Alex Pietrangelo for Canada’s final three picks on defence in May.
And to top it off, was shipped out of Montreal in a trade to Nashville in June. So what’s going on here? The last time we checked, Subban was a 2013 Norris Trophy winner who finished in the top-10 in scoring amongst defencemen last season with 51 points. Even if his personality rubs some the wrong way — and I don’t know why it would — he is still one of the most talented defencemen in the world and someone that Canada cannot afford to leave off its roster.
Of course, the same might be said of Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang, who also probably deserved to be chosen ahead of Bouwmeester.
Sticking with Subban, here are five reasons why Canada decided it didn’t want him on the team: Bouwmeester, who had another down year offensively, is not the same calibre of defenceman as Keith. He is not going to replace Keith’s minutes or role on the team. But because he and Keith both shoot left — Subban shoots right — Bouwmeester allows Team Canada to keep its righty-lefty matchup on defence, which seems to be a big deal for head coach Mike Babcock. “Our management team and coaching staff felt it was critical to ensure continuity between the number of left- and right-handed defencemen on our roster,” Team Canada GM Doug Armstrong said in a statement. Don’t underestimate the benefit of having your GM pick the team. While it might not stink of nepotism, the fact that Bouwmeester plays for Armstrong, who is the general manager in St. Louis, obviously has its benefits. For one, Armstrong is familiar with Bouwmeester and what he can bring to the ice. Armstrong wants Bouwmeester to succeed, because it can then lead to a positive regular season for the Blues. On the other hand, Subban had no one in his corner. In fact, Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin, who is on Canada’s management team, was the one who traded Subban to Nashville. than Armstrong’s pull, another reason why Bouwmeester beat out Subban and others for the spot was his chemistry with Pietrangelo. The two have played together for the past four seasons and were a pairing on Canada’s gold medal team at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. In a shortened tournament where players not only have to get themselves in game shape but also find comfort with their new linemates, familiarity could be more important than simply picking the best players. As Armstrong said, “Jay’s experience with what it takes to be successful in these short tournaments can’t be undervalued.” playing on a team that was missing its No. 1 goalie for most of the year and finished with the fourth-worst record in the Eastern Conference. Bouwmeester, meanwhile, went all the way to the conference final where he scored four points in 20 games.
Subban might have been a member of the team that won gold in Sochi, but you’d be hard-pressed finding much in the way of video evidence. As the seventh defenceman, he was more a casual observer than actual gamebreaker. Granted, a lot has changed since then.
While Subban has continued to grow his game and is trending upwards, the 32-year-old Bouwmeester is no longer the same defenceman he was in 2014. Though he still logs 23-plus minutes per game and skates as effortless as always, his offence has significantly dropped off. He managed just 13 points in 2014-15 and had 19 points last season.