In the year 2006, the Olympic Games were held in Turin, Italy. Team Canada was favored to defend the gold medal they'd earned four years prior, backstopped by the legendary Martin Brodeur, and returning much of the 2002 roster in front of him. As we know, that team fell short of the medal games, losing 0-2 to Russia in the quarterfinals.
That roster included, alongside its superstars, player such as Kris Draper, Shane Doan, and Ryan Smyth. Hindsight, looking back twenty years from today, suggests that the omission of a certain newcomer to the league might have been a mistake. Sidney Crosby, in the midst of a 100+ point rookie season, was not selected, supplanted by the "gritty" players above along with other young offensive talents like Eric Staal and Jason Spezza.
Canada's management were too concerned with the Tkachuks
Top to bottom, the Canadian squad at the 2026 Olympic Hockey tournament mirrored that of last year's 4 Nations. Management, coaches, and most of the players. Macklin Celebrini played so well this season that it would have been impossible to leave him off the roster, but the only other changes seemed to be made with the goal of neutralizing the disruptive threat posed by Matthew and Brady Tkachuk.
Did the threat of violence really make a difference? Sidney Crosby was taken out of the tournament on a hit by Radko Gudas. Tom Wilson fought a large French gentleman, but only after he'd taken liberties with Nathan Mackinnon. And the Tkachuks went home with gold around their necks.
Connor Bedard's injury provided an excuse not to include him, and older players with more offense were left off in favor of "grittier" Tom Wilson and obvious coach's pick Brandon Hagel. But the most puzzling decision, which we can with more than a little certainty now call a mistake, was not selecting the immensely talented Matthew Schaefer.
The most goals by a rookie defenseman EVER
Whenever we discuss offensive output in today's NHL, we use words like "era adjusted" to compare to the fast and loose game of the 1980s, but Schaefer just eclipsed an all-time rookie scoring record. Furthermore, he has a trophy shelf that's already littered with gold medals:
- U17 World Hockey Championship Gold
- U18 World Junior Championship Gold
- Ivan Hlinka Gretzky Cup Gold
This article isn't meant to disparage Drew Doughty, but a side-by-side comparison of the two players clearly demonstrates that Schaefer is the better of the two today. Drew Doughty was included on his first Olympic roster, at the expense of more veteran d-men, because his ability was obvious. Schaefer should have been offered the same opportunity.
The common thing to hear is that Canada has enough depth that we could have sent two teams to the Olympics. But the fact is, the single team we can send shouldn't be built with any other country's players or strategies in mind. They should be forced to play our game, and now we can only hope that's the approach four years from now.