Quote:
Originally Posted by Bend it like Bourgeois
Seems about right.
There was a really good in-depth piece on Hunter in the summer by Scott Wheeler noting he wrecked his shoulder, lost a year, and got left behind in the US team. At the time I thought damn the Canucks have found money.
But healthy and crushing the OHL he still could not make the WJC team, even over younger players. There are obviously still some flaws.
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How much does the US lean towards their national program players though? The guys that have gone through the USHL and the national training program, the under 18s, etc.? Every country has a bias towards their development programs and the players that go through them.
Brzustewicz's progress is also VERY recent - he likely wasn't high on their lists in the summer, so it's late addition or nothing, for him. And since their team was loaded with offense already, they were probably more concerned with adding Dmen that were more well-rounded.
I don't think being passed by the WJC team is that big of a deal, personally.