Canada couldn’t endure Logan Thompson for 10 days?

The defeat of Canada last night has people talking… And not necessarily for the right reasons.

Just like in the last two World Junior Championships, there is (a lot of) criticism regarding the decisions made by Canadian officials.

Especially when we see Jordan Binnington allowing goals that a #1 goalie should stop…

Canada had the opportunity to trust Logan Thompson, who is one of the best goalies in the league this season.

But let’s remember that Bruce Cassidy and Peter DeBoer did not want him on the team because of the goalie’s stay in Vegas…

According to Steve Valiquette, Bruce Cassidy and Pete DeBoer didn’t want Logan Thompson on Team Canada because of their experience with him in Vegas.

“That was never going to happen.” pic.twitter.com/lelxFmQ29E

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 5, 2025

Couldn’t Canada endure Logan Thompson for 10 days?

That’s the question that needs to be asked right now.

After all, the officials must choose the best available players for a short tournament like this (and it’s the same for the World Junior Championship).

But it seems that those officials do not learn from their mistakes, even after seeing Canada bow out in the quarter-finals in the last two editions of the WJC…

There are criticisms regarding the goalies, but also regarding the offense.

Brad Marchand who is not making any progress…

Jon Cooper who preferred his players (I’m especially thinking of Anthony Cirelli here)…

Why is Mark Scheifele, who is the 4th highest Canadian scorer this season, not part of that lineup?

We know that like Thompson, it’s off-ice issues that led the officials to avoid Scheifele. But still, you must play to win…

Matt Duchene, Connor Bedard, Macklin Celebrini, Dylan Strome… These guys have undeniable offensive talent and Canada has only scored five goals in two games since the start of the tournament. Nick Suzuki could also have taken the place of a guy like Cirelli…

It’s not normal for Crosby – at 37 years old – to be the only Canadian player among the top 10 scorers of the tournament!

In the end, it’s the officials who appear (again) poorly and we see the results of their decisions right now.

If only they could put politics aside and focus on having the best possible team on the ice…

This tweet perfectly summarizes the situation:

So Hockey Canada completely biffed it for the world juniors roster and now they’ve exacerbated our goalie issue by not taking the best ones. I genuinely wonder what that organization can do right. And I’m not even mentioning their most glaring mistakes.

— Taylor Lush (@TLush91) February 16, 2025

In brief

– Good for Finland.

Aleksander Barkov on the ice for Team Finland practice. Appears fine after hurting himself kicking at the puck in yesterday’s game versus Sweden. pic.twitter.com/ZNTyN6G8EI

— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) February 16, 2025

– Good news: Mailloux is able to play this afternoon.

Connor Hughes sera le gardien partant à Rochester aujourd’hui. Logan Mailloux sera de la formation

Connor Hughes will be the starting goalie in Rochester today. Logan Mailloux will be in the lineup #GoRocket pic.twitter.com/YjkXRlYGQS

— Rocket de Laval (@RocketLaval) February 16, 2025

– Good point!

Don’t care who you root for, one of the best parts of an epic clash were the messages flooding in from friends who don’t watch hockey and aren’t hockey fans.

“Holy s&#% this is awesome.”

Both sides recognized last night was way more than just a game. They delivered.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 16, 2025

– Phew.

Elles sont maintenant 16 à lui reprocher des comportements inappropriés… https://t.co/GIdWQThjFv

— TVA Sports (@TVASports) February 16, 2025