Canada defenseman Drew Doughty, right, celebrates with goalkeeper Carey Price after a 3-1 victory over Norway at the Sochi Olympics.(Streeter Lecka / Getty Images)
Will he or won’t he be selected?
LA Kings defenseman Drew Doughty is hoping to make Team Canada’s final roster, and he has one guy in his corner.
Longtime Anaheim Ducks and recent Detroit Red Wings forward Bobby Ryan would like to see the former Norris Trophy winner play in the 2022 Winter Olympics:
If I’m picking team Canada tomorrow morning, I pick Doughty. He can move from1-6. He’s beyond what you consider his prime, that’s fine. He’s still scary to everyone who plays the game.
— Bobby Ryan (@Bobbyry5409) December 1, 2021
Reading a few of his tweets before the one above, he was commenting on the Kings-Ducks game on Tuesday, coinciding with Doughty’s return to play since injuring his knee on October 22.
Ryan is obviously very familiar with Doughty from his days in Anaheim, and obviously, he has a lot of respect for the 31-year-old.
The Olympic selection has been a hot topic for Doughty, who publicly expressed frustration with the early projections omitting him from the roster.
“Yeah, I mean, I’ll be honest with you guys. When I don’t see my name on that stuff, it completely frustrates me, and I’ve talked to, you know, teammates about it, coaches about it, and everyone’s like just ignore it, don’t look at it like,” Doughty told NHL Network back in February. “Why do you care what the media says, and I’m just like, man, I’m not trying to look for it. [It] just like comes up on Twitter.
“It frustrates me, and I’m going to do everything in my power to make that team,” the LA Kings defenseman added. “You know, I don’t believe the media. I know that the GMs that are creating this team, they know hockey. I think better than most people, so I’m using it as a tool to push myself, to prove to everyone I should be on that team. You know, I’ve been on the team twice before, played lots of minutes, and was a big part of the teams, and I think I can for sure do that again.”
Blues general manager Doug Armstrong was selected to lead the management group tasked with selecting players for Team Canada’s roster. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper will be the bench boss.
“I would say by early December you want to be down to that final scope of guys so you can really hone into that group,” Armstrong said in mid-November.
Armstrong went on to explain that he expects the roster to be finalized in early January with the Olympics scheduled for February 9-19.
Doughty has already played twice in the Winter Olympics, 2010 in Vancouver and 2014 in Sochi, helping Team Canada win gold in both international tournaments.
Of course, concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic add another obstacle for the games, which the NHL could ultimately pass on if they so chose. However, assuming everything is a “go,” Doughty should get some resolution to the roster here soon.
As hard as Dewey worked to get back to the Kings earlier than expected, that’s the effort that’ll get him a spot on the Olympic team.
honestly hope so…nothing like playing for your country – assuming the games are still a “go”