{"id":188120,"date":"2025-10-03T21:01:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T21:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/188120\/"},"modified":"2025-10-03T21:01:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T21:01:09","slug":"nhl-players-on-olympic-bubble-know-early-season-success-is-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/188120\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL players on Olympic bubble know early-season success is key"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Flyers defenceman Travis Sanheim said making Canada’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off was a boost to his craft.Matt Slocum\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Robert Thomas already knew his chances were pretty much finished. Nick Suzuki held out at least some hope until the end.<\/p>\n

Canada named its full roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off \u2014 a table-setting showcase ahead of the NHL\u2019s Olympic return in 2026 \u2014 last December after plenty of internal and external debate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Media members dissected choices. Fans drooled over potential line combinations and trumpeted the opportunity to finally see Sidney Crosby skate with Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon on a big international stage.<\/p>\n

Players on the bubble omitted from the exclusive list, meanwhile, were left bitterly disappointed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thomas, a centre for the St. Louis Blues, broke his ankle in October and didn\u2019t make the cut when Canada made its announcement alongside the United States, Sweden and Finland some 10 months ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was hard,\u201d he said. \u201cReally sucked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suzuki, meanwhile, had a solid start to his 2024-25 campaign as Montreal\u2019s captain, but it wasn\u2019t enough to earn a spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatching the 4 Nations motivated me a lot,\u201d said the Canadiens\u2019 No. 1 centre. \u201cI wanted to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

That door slamming shut pushed both players in the second half of last season\u2019s NHL schedule. And with the 2026 Games in Italy just 18 weeks away, they again sit in a group hoping to break through and snag an opportunity to compete under the sporting world\u2019s brightest spotlight.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to wait for two years for another crack,\u201d said Thomas, whose general manager in St. Louis, Doug Armstrong, is once again part of the management group picking Canada\u2019s team. \u201cReally excited.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

All 12 countries, which will have 25 players compared to the 23 available at 4 Nations, competing at the men\u2019s Olympic hockey tournament each filled six roster spots in June.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The biggest names are already off the board, but there\u2019s still lots up for grabs with the curtain set to drop on the NHL season.<\/p>\n

\u201cA team that you want to be a part of,\u201d said Utah Mammoth winger and captain Clayton Keller, who was on the outside looking in for the Americans last February.<\/p>\n

Thomas led the NHL in points (40) and assists (32) after the 4 Nations. Suzuki sat fourth in points with 37, while Keller tied for 11th with 30 before captaining the U.S. to gold at the men\u2019s world hockey championship for the first time since 1933 in May.<\/p>\n

\u201cCame back from that break wanting to prove what I could do,\u201d Suzuki said of his approach after Canada took the 4 Nations final over the U.S. \u201cThere\u2019s probably a lot of guys in my shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simply having made the 4 Nations doesn\u2019t, of course, guarantee a spot at the Olympics. A lot of the players who felt the pressure 12 months ago are back in the same spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cItaly would be incredible,\u201d said Carolina Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis, part of Canada\u2019s 4 Nations setup. \u201cMassive accomplishment, a big dream of mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re so hungry to get back,\u201d added New Jersey Devils centre Jack Hughes of the U.S. \u201cYou want to be in the Olympics so bad, just because the level of hockey was so high.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Philadelphia Flyers and Canadian defenceman Travis Sanheim said earning a 4 Nations spot was a massive boost to his craft.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gonna be a challenge,\u201d he said of again making the cut. \u201cIt\u2019s something that motivates me, excites me, and something I\u2019m striving towards.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then there are players whose Olympic thoughts are taking a back seat in the short term to focus on health.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn honour and something every guy wants,\u201d said Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko, an American already with a long list of injuries in his career. \u201cI truly believe that if I can play up to my standard, that I will be on that team.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The NHL\u2019s decision to skip the 2018 Olympics and then scuttle 2022 plans because of COVID-19 meant a number of players in their primes missed out. Some, however, still hang onto hope.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a chance,\u201d said Calgary Flames centre Nazem Kadri, who wasn\u2019t invited to Canada\u2019s August orientation camp and will be 35 when his country\u2019s tournament opens Feb. 12 against Czechia. \u201cYou just want to be considered and give yourself an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the other end of the spectrum, youngsters not really on the radar last October are looking to break through.\u00a0<\/p>\n

San Jose Sharks centre Macklin Celebrini also had a strong second half post-4 Nations before answering Canada\u2019s call at the men\u2019s worlds alongside Crosby and MacKinnon.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething I\u2019ve dreamt of ever since I was a kid,\u201d Celebrini said of competing at the Games. \u201cIt\u2019s bigger than yourself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

And a tough squad to crack \u2014 especially for the red Maple Leaf.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of us that had that experience,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cWho knows what the Olympic roster is going to look like? But it was definitely on my mind a lot this summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a goal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

-With files from Gemma Karstens-Smith in Vancouver and Donna Spencer in Calgary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Flyers defenceman Travis Sanheim said making Canada’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188121,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,448,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,82,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-188120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-nhl","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}