Capitals' Thompson: Team Canada 'never reached out to me'
Washington Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson didn't hear from Canada's management group for the 4 Nations Face-Off despite his superb campaign.
"You hear all the noise and stuff in the media about how a lot of people thought I was in the running," Thompson said on "The Fan Hockey Show" on Wednesday. "They never reached out to me. That didn't upset me.
"I wasn't surprised when I was left off the team, and then when they kinda came out and said, 'We let the extra guys know that if there's an injury, they'll be the extra guys coming in,' and they never reached out to me, still. So, if there were to be an injury, I know that I probably won't get that call. And that's okay, I know they got their guys. I just hope that Canada goes out there and wins it all."
Thompson ranks second among qualified goalies with a 2.09 goals-against average, and his .925 save percentage (SV%) is third league-wide. Both are tops among Canadian netminders. The 27-year-old is a remarkable 22-2-3 on the campaign.
Canada named Jordan Binnington, Adin Hill, and Sam Montembeault as its 4 Nations goaltenders in December. Here are their respective stats on the campaign:
| Goalie | Team | Record | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binnington | STL | 13-17-3 | .898 |
| Hill | VGK | 18-8-3 | .901 |
| Montembeault | MTL | 17-16-3 | .899 |
Thompson is 12-1-1 with a .938 SV% since being left off Canada's roster.
Don Sweeney, Canada's general manager, said it would've been ideal to have had more time to select goaltenders for the tournament.
Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy called out his team's goaltending Monday after Hill allowed four goals in a shootout loss against the St. Louis Blues. Both Binnington and Montembeault have a .897 SV% since the roster announcement.
The Capitals don't have a single player on any of the 4 Nations rosters. Thompson believes that's motivated them.
"To be honest, I think there's a bunch of guys that got left off the 4 Nations team on this roster," he said. "I think that we kinda looked around the hockey world, and I think we all were a bit surprised, with how good and strong our team's been, to not have one guy represent a nation. So I think it just fuels us as a whole, as a team."
The first-ever 4 Nations Face-Off is Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston.