4 Nations: Nick Suzuki, the only captain of the Atlantic who is not from the tournament

Dose
Crédit:

This evening, for the first time since 2016, the best hockey players in the world face off on the international stage. It is happening at the Bell Centre as Canada and Sweden clash.

It’s great to see this again.

However, what stands out is that there are no players from the Canadiens in uniform tonight. Samuel Montembeault is part of the Canadian team, but he is in the press box… while the other representatives of the CH are playing for Finland.

For a little while, we hoped to see Nick Suzuki part of the Canadian lineup. After all, he is one of the best Canadian centermen… and is capable of handling defensive assignments. That said, he was overlooked by the Canadian team.

Interestingly, what we see is that Suzuki… is the only captain of an Atlantic team not present at the tournament. The other seven are all there.

What is interesting, however, is to see how well represented the captains of the Atlantic are compared to other divisions. Indeed, in the other three divisions combined, only three captains (or four if we consider Quinn Hughes, who is injured and will not participate in the tournament) are on their national team.

It should be noted, however, that six captains (Radko Gudas, Anze Kopitar, Roman Josi, Nico Hischier, Anders Lee, and Alex Ovechkin) could not represent their country… simply because their country is not in the tournament.

We can wonder how close Suzuki was to being part of the Canadian lineup… but we know that Mark Scheifele is among the players who would have been considered (before?) the captain of the Canadiens. It may have taken more than one absence for Suzuki to make it to the tournament.

The good news for Suzuki, however, is that he still has plenty of time to defend the colors of his country. Whether it is at the 2026 Olympics or the World Cup in 2028, he could eventually be chosen by the Canadian team.

But today, he is the only captain of his division enjoying two weeks off. And it’s quite unusual to see that, considering he is recognized as one of the good centermen in the NHL.

In a nutshell

– It’s his turn to play.

– Indeed.

– Bravo.

– Michael Misa reaches the 100-point plateau this season.

– Happy reading!