from Jared Clinton of The Hockey News,
While other nations prepping for the World Cup had designs on building the most talented roster possible, Team USA GM Dean Lombardi had something different in mind: a team that could topple Canada from their spot atop the podium.
Lombardi’s roster decisions have been questioned since the day the team’s preliminary roster were released. The obvious choices, such as Patrick Kane, Joe Pavelski, Zach Parise, T.J. Oshie and Blake Wheeler, were named to the club, but among all the other talented, smooth-skating and sharp-shooting talent Lombardi had to choose from, some were surprised to see Detroit Red Wings forward Justin Abdelkader on the preliminary roster. While not a knock against Abdelkader, a good player in his own right, he’s never been a top offensive star. But naming Abdelkader to the roster was just step one.
When the final rosters were announced, Lombardi added another skilled forward in James van Riemsdyk, but he was joined by power forward David Backes and in-your-face forwards Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan. Meanwhile, left off the roster were stars such as Phil Kessel and Kyle Okposo and Tyler Johnson and…well, you get the point.
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