Stars’ Jason Robertson breaks silence after Team USA snub

It is the dream of nearly every player in the National Hockey League to play well enough to earn a position on their country’s Olympic team. That is certainly the case for Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars. He has been one of the league’s top scorers this season with 24 goals and 24 assists. It seemed quite likely that the highest scoring American player would get a call from Bill Guerin, the general manager of the U.S. team, telling him that he had been selected to play in the Olympics.

Given his status as a key performer for the Stars and his ability to score, it’s surprising that Robertson was not selected for the team. He has been relatively silent about the snub, and he thought he had done enough to put himself in a good position. He opened up slightly about the decision.

“I thought that this year was different from last year. Obviously last year, I didn’t think I was good enough,” Robertson said. “Now, I think I did. It’s their choice and their decision, and that’s it.”

He added that he didn’t know if he is on the reserve list for the team. He also said the call that let him know he was not on the team was a brief one.

Guerin wanted a complete team, not just high scorers

Robertson was not the only talented American scorer who was left off the team. Alex DeBrincat of the Detroit Red Wings, Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson of the Montreal Canadiens and Cutter Gauthier of the Anaheim Ducks are among the notable players who were not selected for the team.

Guerin said the goal is to put together a complete team. “We actually have to build a team and we have to fill roles,” Guerin said. “We have certain responsibilities that go up and down the lineup that we need players that are elite in those categories.”