A second shot at international glory

OTTAWA – Connor Hellebuyck will get another opportunity to flip the script in international hockey.

The same goes for Kyle Connor, who joins his Winnipeg Jets’ teammate on the United States men’s hockey team after Friday’s announcement on The Today Show.

Hellebuyck and Connor looked like obvious choices for Bill Guerin and the Team USA management team.

Hellebuyck has dealt with arthroscopic knee surgery and seen his numbers (2.51 goals-against average, .908 save percentage in 22 starts) dip a bit after winning the Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy last season, but he’s put himself in a strong position to be the starter for the Americans once again after holding that job at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

There’s been plenty of chatter about how Jordan Binnington outduelled Hellebuyck in the gold medal game last February, but nobody was blaming Hellebuyck for the OT winner scored by Connor McDavid.

Regardless, you can be sure the Jets’ pillar will be highly motivated to take his team to the top of the podium next month in Italy.

In previous conversations, Hellebuyck has referenced what it would mean to him to have his Ryan Miller moment — referring to the brilliant play of the Team USA netminder in the Vancouver Olympics in 2010 — while noting he wanted to change the heartbreaking ending authored by Sidney Crosby when he scored the Golden Goal.

Hellebuyck joins Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman in the crease, as the U.S. returns the same three masked men from the 4 Nations Face-Off roster.

Things didn’t go nearly as smoothly at the best-on-best tournament for Connor, who began the event on the top line with Jack Eichel, but eventually slid down the depth chart and was a healthy scratch in the gold medal game.

That decision to leave a sniper like Connor out of the lineup has been second-guessed for months and while he said all the right things when asked about it, you can be sure the Michigan product will be looking to make a much bigger impact this time around.

Connor is off to another strong start to the season, sitting second in team scoring with 18 goals and 46 points in 39 games going into Saturday’s game against the Ottawa Senators.

“Oh hell yeah, Billy, that’s awesome,” Connor told Guerin during Wednesday’s phone call which brought about the good news. A video of the conversation was shared to social media on Friday.

“You got it buddy. We’re super excited. We all feel like we’ve got some unfinished business,” said Guerin. “We feel like we’ve got a group that can get it done and you’re going to be a big part of that.”

“I’m through the moon right now,” replied Connor.

Guerin then joked that the “tryout is over and you can stop scoring goals against the Minnesota Wild now. Save it for the Olympics.”

The Americans have a deep forward group, but it won’t be a surprise if Connor excels on a line with Auston Matthews, Jack Hughes or Dylan Larkin.

Playing on the opposite wing of Matt Boldy could also be a dynamic combination.

“Helly is one of the best goalies in the world and Kyle is elite as well,” Matthews said Thursday after the morning skate. “(Connor) is a difficult player to handle and he can make you pay on the power play and at five-on-five.”

KEN SAYS: Team Canada has unveiled a roster that looks like it will be tough to beat, but that hasn’t prevented several choices from being placed under the microscope.

While acknowledging how difficult a task Canadian GM Doug Armstrong and the management team had in trimming the team down to 25 players, if a gold medal is not the final result, further questions are going to be asked.

That’s the nature of the job, something Armstrong himself spoke to during the press conference and Zoom call on New Year’s Eve.

Mike and I picked our final projected rosters a couple weeks back and I only had 19 of the 25 correct.

That’s because I had Mark Scheifele, Seth Jarvis and Sam Bennett up front, Matthew Schaefer and Jakob Chychrun on defence and MacKenzie Blackwood between the pipes as the third goalie — while conceding in advance it was likely Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli and Jordan Binnington would all be on the team.

There’s a case to be made that Canada’s second team could be in the mix for a medal at the Olympics, so it was always going to be easy to second-guess.

You have to applaud how Scheifele handled the questions about the tough news he received when he spoke to reporters in Toronto after Thursday’s game.

As someone in the room and asking the questions, you could see the disappointment on his face and hear it in his voice but Scheifele gave a series of thoughtful answers that described what he was going through.

He didn’t try to deny how crushing a blow it was to not be named to the team and he also shared his pride in how he’s played during the past 12 months, noting it’s probably the best he’s played in his NHL career.

When you consider the personal loss Scheifele endured after the passing of his father Brad prior to Game 6 against the Dallas Stars last spring, combined with being passed over by Team Canada twice in the past 13 months, the resolve and maturity he showed in his responses were impressive to witness in person.

As for Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey, he figures to play a prominent role on Canada’s second pairing with either Colton Parayko or Shea Theodore.

Winnipegger Mark Stone is having another strong season and his reliable two-way game, smarts and leadership allow him to move around the lineup and play whatever role is asked of him.

Elkhorn product Travis Sanheim is in the mix for third-pairing duty with Thomas Harley and Drew Doughty.

Shifting gears to the Americans, the biggest head scratcher for me was leaving Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars off the roster. Robertson produced 50 goals and 100 points during the 2025 calendar year and has been to the Western Conference final in each of the past three seasons. He’s also shown well in the post-season, with 18 goals and 44 points in 56 games, and isn’t afraid to go to the hard areas. I understand the value of role players, but this is another omission that could come with side order of regret.

MIKE SAYS: In terms of my predictions, I ended up with 21 of 25. I had the three goaltenders right and only whiffed on one forward — selecting Jarvis instead of Bo Horvat. I really took a beating on the back-end by picking Schaefer, Chychrun and Evan Bouchard to all get the call over Sanheim, Harley and Colton Parayko.

It sure speaks to the depth of talent here in the Great White North that you could put together a powerhouse “B” team that would have a legitimate shot at getting to the podium.

Imagine the likes of Scheifele, Jarvis, Sam Bennett, Connor Bedard, Wyatt Johnston, John Tavares and Zach Hyman up front and players like Chychrun, Schaefer, Bouchard and Brandon Montour on the blue-line. No doubt that group would have a Maple Leaf-sized chip on its shoulders.

Speaking of Jarvis, I loved the way the Winnipegger reacted to his snub, creating a soundbite for the ages when he cited a quote from former teammate Justin Williams and said “Sometimes you gotta eat a s—t sandwich and chew on it for a little bit. It doesn’t taste good, but you move on.”

On paper, Canada appears to have a distinct advantage over all teams, including the Americans, when it comes to forwards and defencemen.

Guerin’s exclusion of forwards such as Robertson and Cole Caufield and defencemen such as Adam Fox and Lane Hutson — over slowing, aging stars like J.T. Miller, Vincent Trocheck, Seth Jones and Noah Hanifin — all had me a bit puzzled.

However, the U.S. could have a notable edge in goal. Binnington isn’t even the best Canadian ‘tender on his own team, with Winnipegger Joel Hofer passing him in that department, but I understand Armstrong’s logic in including him. But I suspect it will be as the No. 3 or, at most, No. 2 guy.

The Jets will also be represented in Italy by Nino Niederreiter, who will be a major piece of an underdog Switzerland team. Niederreiter, who recently celebrated his 1,000th NHL game, is struggling mightily these days. He played 13 games in December, recording no goals, no assists and no points while going minus-seven.

Niederreiter was a healthy scratch for Thursday’s game in Toronto, although I expect he’ll be back in the lineup on Saturday as Winnipeg wraps up its three-game road trip in Ottawa.

My excitement for the Olympics is ramping up with each passing day, and I’m looking forward to being in Milan to cover the event for the Free Press.

winnipegfreepress.com/mike.mcintyre

winnipegfreepress.com/ken.wiebe