Kessel Leading Pens in Scoring But Not Selected by Team USA
The 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Finals begins on Monday. The Pittsburgh Penguins will play the San Jose Sharks in the best of seven series to determine the NHL Champions.
Powering the Pittsburgh offense will be Phil Kessel a two-time member of the U.S. Olympic team. However, the Penguins forward was not selected for the U.S. World Cup of Hockey team roster on Friday, one day after he helped his team to the Stanley Cup Finals.
In leaving off the NHL veteran of 10-years, the officials from Team USA filled their final four spots at forward with Brandon Dubinsky from Columbus, James van Riemsdyk from Toronto, Ryan Callahan from Tampa Bay and David Backes from St. Louis.
The defense spots remaining to be filled went to Erik Johnson of Colorado, Jack Johnson of Columbus and Matt Niskanen of Washington.
Many insiders commented how difficult it was to understand that one of the best NHL players during the playoffs – Kessel – was not amongst the last seven players chosen.
Six of the 23 players on the roster have been coached by John Tortorella during his coaching career in the NHL, of which three were forwards chosen on Friday ahead of Kessel.
Kessel was not selected despite a postseason where he leads Pittsburgh with 9 goals as well as 18 points as his team prepares for the Cup Finals. At the Sochi Games of 2014, the U.S. was fourth just missing a medal with Kessel leading the team in scoring with 5 goals and 8 points.
Other missing players of note are Ottawa’s Bobby Ryan, the Islanders Kyle Okposo and Paul Stastny with St. Louis.
Dean Lombardi the general manager for the U.S. said that when it comes time to pick a final roster it is a very difficult thing to do, which is a testament to the length the U.S. has come in the sport.
The World Cup of Hockey will take place in September with 8 teams vying for the title. The NHL and the NHL Players’ Association announced that the tournament would run from September 17 to October 1.
The teams competing represent Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden, Europe, North America and the U.S.
The tournament will take two weeks to play and feature over 150 of the best NHL players. All of the games are to be played at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre, which is the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs NHL franchise.
