Sam Bennett is still shaking off the disappointment of not being selected to Team Canada.
The reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner was one of the more surprising omissions from the 25-man roster unveiled Wednesday for the Milan Cortina Olympics, especially after he contributed to Canada’s victory at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February.
“Obviously, pretty disappointed,” Bennett told reporters after his Florida Panthers beat the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 on Sunday night. “I wish I could have proved that I could help that team win a gold medal and obviously I didn’t do enough.”
Ironically, Bennett is on the hottest scoring streak of his 12-year NHL career. He ran his points streak to a career-best nine games by driving hard to the net and scoring an unassisted goal against the Avalanche.
Of course, the primary attributes that put him in discussion for an invitation to the Olympics were his competitive nature and willingness to engage opponents physically. That was on full display at the 4 Nations tournament, where he fought Brady Tkachuk as part of the memorable three fights in nine seconds to open the Canada-U.S. preliminary round game. The Olympics is played under IIHF rules, which ban fighting. However, Bennett also scored the goal in the 4 Nations championship game that helped Canada force overtime.
Despite winning back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Panthers and being named playoff MVP last June, Bennett considers representing his country as the pinnacle.
“I try to look at what I’m grateful for and that’s that opportunity I had last year,” he said. “That was probably the proudest moment of my career, getting to put on that (Team Canada) jersey. I’m going to be forever grateful for that opportunity.”
Bennett was one of five players dropped from the 4 Nations tournament, joining forwards Seth Jarvis and Travis Konecny and goaltenders Adin Hill and Sam Montembeault. The decision to leave him off might have been the toughest for Doug Armstrong’s management group.
Ultimately, they decided there was enough sandpaper on the roster with Tom Wilson and Brad Marchand among the invites, which allowed them to add Bo Horvat in a depth role because of his versatility. The New York Islanders center is having a monster season with 21 goals in 36 games. Plus Horvat is an elite faceoff man who can shift over to the wing, if needed.
Bennett may not have quite as many dimensions to his game, but his resume tells the story of a big-game performer. He had 15 goals in 23 games for the Panthers during last year’s playoffs and shook off a slow start this season by finding a groove over the last six weeks. He’s currently on pace for a career-best 28 goals and 62 points.
Asked what more he could have done to impress Team Canada’s brass, Bennett said: “I’m not sure.”
“It was left into other people’s hands and obviously I didn’t do enough,” he added. “I can really only look at myself.”