Hockey Canada made a mistake by not selecting NY Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer for the Olympics

It was a moment that will live in the hearts of American hockey fans for a lifetime. For one day and one day only, the majority of NY Islanders fans viewed Bo Horvat as the enemy and Jack Hughes as a hero. Americans from coast to coast are enjoying their triumph, but North of the border, Canadians are wondering how this could happen.

The Silver Medal isn’t good enough when it comes to Canadian standards. And now that the tournament has ended, there will be some Monday morning quarterbacking done across Canada. So with that being said, Hockey Canada made a mistake not taking Matthew Schaefer with them to Milan.

Matthew Schaefer should have been part of the Canaidan team

After steamrolling the competition through pool play, the Canadians weren’t themselves through the knockout stages. In the quarter-finals against Czechia, Canada found themselves tied or trailing for the majority of the game. It took a Mitch Marner OT goal to advance to the medal rounds. In the semi-finals, the Canadians found themselves behind two goals to Finland late in the second period. After knotting the game at two, only a Nathan MacKinnon power play goal with 36 seconds remaining got them through to the Gold Medal Game. Then there was yesterday. Canada never had the lead against the USA, and they were relegated to Silver after Hughes golden goal.

There was offensive firepower across the front lines for Canada, but along the blue line, outside of Cale Makar, this unit lacked high-end offense.