USA Announces Hockey Roster For Sochi Olympics

The announcement was made yesterday in Detroit after the Winter Classic. Team USA has there rosters set for men's and women's hockey for the Winter Olympics that will take place in Sochi Russia next month. There were some surprise snubs for this Olympic roster for the Men, being passed up for a variety of reasons. So before we get into some of the noted snubs, lets take a look at the roster for the United States at the Olympics.

Forwards:
#42 David Backes (Blues)
#23 Dustin Brown (Kings)
#24 Ryan Callahan (Rangers)
#88 Patrick Kane (Blackhawks)
#17 Ryan Kesler (Canucks)
#81 Phil Kessel (Maple Leafs)
#74 T.J. Oshie (Blues)
#61 Max Pacioretty (Canadiens)
#9 Zach Parise (Wild)
#8 Joe Pavelski (Sharks)
#26 Paul Stastny (Avalanche)
#21 Derek Stepan (Rangers)
#21 James Van Riemsdyk (Maple Leafs)
#26 Blake Wheeler (Jets)

Defenseman:
#74 John Carlson (Capitals)
#27 Justin Faulk (Hurricanes)
#4 Cam Fowler (Ducks)
#7 Paul Martin (Penguins)
#27 Ryan McDonagh (Rangers)
#44 Brooks Orpik (Penguins)
#22 Kevin Shattenkirk (Blues)
#20 Ryan Suter (Wild)

Goalies:
#35 Jimmy Howard (Red Wings)
#30 Ryan Miller (Sabres)
#32 Jonathan Quick (Kings)

There you have your Team USA Men's Hockey Roster for the Sochi Olympics. Of course there are going to be a few players who got the short end of the stick if you will. Goaltending was a good call on all three netminders. Miller has the experience from playing 4 years ago in Vancouver. So does Quick, although he didn't get to play sitting behind Miller and Tim Thomas on the depth chart. Howard is the new guy and should do quite well at the international level.

Defense saw a few good players get the shaft. Dustin Byfuglien, Keith Yandle, Erik Johnson and Jack Johnson were left out. Both Johnsons were on the team in 2010 but where left off the roster. Despite being 3rd amongst American born defenseman in scoring with 27 points, Yandle was left out in the cold. As for Byfuglien, he's a unique kind of player, able to play both forward and defense. He’s also a versatile weapon on the power play. No American defenseman has more points this season (29), but Byfuglien also has a minus-11 rating and there are questions about his defensive game skating ability on international ice. Same thing can be said for Yandle too.

Finally we look at the forwards. The top forwards not on the 25-man roster are Bobby Ryan, Brandon Dubinsky, Kyle Okposo and Jason Pominville. Ryan and Pominville are third and fourth in goals among American players this season with 18 and 17, while Okposo is second in points with 40. Dubinsky and Nick Bonino are the top centers not to make the team. Ryan, Okposo and Pominville are not considered to have elite skating ability, which clearly looks like a component the management team valued when picking the wings and could be a factor on the larger international ice surface. Those three are also do not kill penalties for their NHL clubs. Plus Pominville wasn't even invited to the camp, over the summer, in the first place so you knew right there he wasn't going to make the team. I know both Okposo and Ryan are putting up great numbers this year in the NHL, but because they both play wing, the US club is so deep at that position already that somebody had to take the fall and right now it's Ryan and Okposo. Granted this could all change between now and the Olympics, say if somebody gets hurts, so we could have somebody else step in. BUt this is the roster that America is taking to Russia to play hockey!