Sixteen players were named to the United States’ World Cup of Hockey squad on Wednesday, and most of the picks came as no surprise to the armchair critics. Dan Rosen of NHL.com reported the selections.
The addition of Detroit’s Justin Abdelkader did surprise many, but there was nothing wrong with that. USA general manager Dean Lombardi clearly wants to have a balanced lineup—not just a collection of All-Stars. Abdelkader figures to do well on a team coached by John Tortorella, bringing speed and grit to a USA lineup that probably lacked a bit of the latter in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.