Savard Screwed

I'm going to be blunt.

Marc Savard has been screwed by Hockey Canada.

There's no other way to describe it. Marc Savard is one of the top players in the National Hockey League yet for some reason is consistantly overlooked by Hockey Canada. Did he piss them off years ago? Does someone at Hockey Canada hold some unknown grudge against him? Surely there is some sort of explanation.

Is it simply a numbers game? Perhaps he's just not that good statistically...

(Post Lockout Stats)

05/06: 28 Goals, 69 Assists - 97 Points - 100 Penalty Minutes
06/07: 22 Goals, 74 Assists - 96 Points - 96 Penalty Minutes
07/08: 15 Goals, 63 Assists - 78 Points - 66 Penalty Minutes
08/09: 25 Goals, 63 Assists - 88 Points - 70 Penalty Minutes

Those look like pretty good numbers to me. He can score, he can set up goals and he can be physical when needed. What more do they want?

Hockey Canada released its 46-man roster for the 2010 Olympic Orientation Camp. While they stress that you don't necessarily need to be at the camp to earn a spot on the Olympic team, every player that made the 2006 team was on the list four years ago.

So while Marc Savard is left off the list, Hockey Canada somehow feels that Andy McDonald is more deserving.

Nothing against McDonald, but in the post-lockout era his stats have been on the decline and in my opinion and statistically, is no where near the level of Marc Savard.

I realize that there is a ton of great talent in the "Great White North" but to ignore a player of Savard's calibre is simply inexcusable.

Why not put him on a line with Milan Lucic and Shane Doan? It would be a tough, gritty line that could also put the puck in the net.

Instead Savard will be left watching Team Canada go for Gold on television like the rest of us. It's a shame and I hope a decision that doesn't burn Canada in the long run.