[News] No Hudler on Czech Olympic Team, Smid will be

[Righteous1]

lol wut? hemsky's dad owns a team out in czech so he may have an inside man

[killer_carlson]

or ...

international teams totally dismiss him for supposedly being an offensive leader on a last place club.

If they came and watched him play, he'd be on the team. I'm afraid they looked at the standings and never even bothered to look.

[btimbit]

Hudler better than so many of those players. Cervenka? wtf

[Henry Fool]

Hudler must have slept with the wrong woman at some point in his career. Obviously there's no hockey reason to leave him out as he's one of the best forwards they have.

All it takes is one guy with a grudge.

[MissTeeks]

Roger Millions‏@RogMillions1m

Hudler's Flame team mates were mocking His omission. Questioning judgment of Czech selection process.

[djsFlames]

Cervenka is a fan favorite over there.

They obviously resorted to popularity contest tactics. Fail.

[Tinordi]

Yeah that's a crock of crap. Ridiculous.

[jayswin]

I hope they get incessantly mocked and questioned about this, to the point where people in their country point to management and say "What are you doing? We're a punch line in the hockey world right now for our selection."

[Muffins]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

or ...

international teams totally dismiss him for supposedly being an offensive leader on a last place club.

If they came and watched him play, he'd be on the team. I'm afraid they looked at the standings and never even bothered to look.

So how did Hemsky, an non-offensive leader on a worse team make it?

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by 19Yzerman19

This is precisely the kind of thinking that kills international hockey teams and precisely what I'm afraid of seeing from Hockey Canada tomorrow morning.

Exactly... NHL teams have 3rd/4th liners because there aren't enough NHL level skill guys to go around...

[JurassicTunga12]

What a joke. There have been some bizarre choices this year when selecting the teams for the Olympics.

[Rejean31]

Hemsky "the man of glass" will no doubt get injured before the Olympics and Hudler can take his spot. Hudler is twice the player Hemsky is presently. Kevin Lowe must've had the ear of some Czech official.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Muffins

So how did Hemsky, an non-offensive leader on a worse team make it?

Remember that knee injury he had from a few years ago? That may have been caused by excessive kneeling....

[djsFlames]

Look for a Hudler hat trick tonight, followed by a mooning of the camera.

[renny]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

I'm afraid they looked at the standings and never even bothered to look.

If that were the case it Hemsky makes no sense at all. I think others have touched on it already, but it appears the selection process is very political. It's ridiculous that Nedved would get chosen ahead of Hudler.

[FBI]

Hurdler should come out and dominate tonight and prove the Czechs wrong.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Muffins

So how did Hemsky, an non-offensive leader on a worse team make it?

Right-handed shot. That's literally the only thing I can think of for how he makes the team ahead of Hudler.


No Oilers-Kings games coming up before the Olympics, so Regehr won't be able to write another chapter in Ales's Adventures Through the Plexiglas.

[MissTeeks]

Mark Spector‏@SportsnetSpec58s

2 of the 5 highest-scoring Czechs in the NHL - Calgary's Jiri Hudler (33 pts) & Phoenix's Radim Vrbata (29 pts) - not named to the team.

[Muffins]

Maybe Hemsky made it simply based on the fact he's been available to play for them at the world championships the last 7 years and they are rewarding him for it.

[puckluck2]

Radim Vrbata is the bigger shock to me.

How on earth do you leave him off the team?