Team USA WJC roster named- (sigh) not one 2011 eligible makes cut

Team USA is in it to win it, and as such, they released all four 2011 draft-eligible players from the preliminary roster today: defensemen Jamie Oleksiak and Adam Clendening. forwards Brandon Saad and Rocco Grimaldi. None of them will be in Buffalo.

The 2011 National Junior Team was announced by USA Hockey this morning via Facebook and it's comprised of all returning members of the gold medal-winning 2010 team, plus already drafted players like Nick Bjugstad, Charlie Coyle, Jon Merrill, Nick Leddy, Brian Dumoulin, Emerson Etem, Chris Brown, etc.

A major disappointment from a scouting perspective, as getting the opportunity to see these guys was something I was looking forward to. I suspect I'm not the only one, but it was a tough cut to make, obviously.

They put the team together they believe gives USA the best chance to win, not the one that amateur scouts wanted to see.

So, there it is.

I'll have more on Team USA later when I can digest the players a bit and analyze what this team is going to bring to the table. Still going to be a very fun and exciting tournament!