Just over 24 hours after Team USA announced its men\u2019s hockey roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d\u2019Ampezzo, Italy, Jason Robertson publicly shared his reaction to being left off the roster.<\/p>\n
The Dallas Stars forward did not make last year\u2019s United States roster that competed in the 4 Nations Face-Off either. But after leading all Americans in points to start this NHL season, many thought he earned his spot in the upcoming February tournament. Robertson was among them.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I thought that this year was different than last year,\u201d he said Saturday. \u201cObviously, last year, I didn\u2019t think I was good enough. Now, I think I did. It\u2019s their choice, their decision. That\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Robertson\u2019s goal-scoring abilities are among the best in the world, Team USA tends to look for players who fit certain roles and the physical style they hope to play. Robertson\u2019s skill wasn\u2019t enough to make up for a defensive or physicality gap in his game.<\/p>\n
Still, the decision by Team USA GM Bill Guerin to leave one of the nation\u2019s top goal scorers at home has baffled fans of the game. Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said it surprised him, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, he\u2019s our player and our guy and you\u2019re hoping for him, and there\u2019s not one coach of the 32 of us that doesn\u2019t think their guy should be on the team,\u201d Gulutzan said. \u201cNot one of us in the league. I would have loved to see him on it. He\u2019s been so good for us. But I\u2019d hate to be making those decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Related<\/p>\n
Sports Roundup<\/p>\n
There are still 39 days until the men\u2019s hockey tournament begins. In the NHL, that\u2019s plenty of time for one of the players selected to the roster to suffer an injury and need a replacement.<\/p>\n
Robertson, who was invited to Team USA\u2019s orientation camp over the summer, would likely be towards the top of the list they turn to. Stars defenseman Thomas Harley made Team Canada in a similar fashion for the 4 Nations Face-Off and maintained that spot on the Olympic roster after proving himself in that tournament.<\/p>\n
But Robertson said Saturday he isn\u2019t sure if he\u2019s on a reserve list for Team USA. He said there hasn\u2019t been much communication between him and the national team at all.<\/p>\n
Even if the call doesn\u2019t come, it may not be the worst thing for the Stars. While Robertson\u2019s teammates and coaches are hoping he does get the chance, the extra rest and motivation could make him even more dangerous than he\u2019s been to start this season \u2014 where he\u2019s logged 24 points and 25 assists in 41 games.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, it hurts your ego, but I\u2019m not going to change the way I play, and I\u2019m happy to keep doing it here,\u201d Robertson said. \u201cI think I just strive to be the best whenever I can be. It just so happened this year was an Olympic year. That\u2019s not gonna stop me from doing that the rest of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twitter\/X: @Lassimak<\/p>\n
Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.<\/p>\n
In conclusion, Jason Robertson’s exclusion from Team USA’s roster has come as a surprise to many, including himself and his coach. However, he remains focused on his game and is determined to continue performing at his best. With 39 days left until the men’s hockey tournament, there is still a chance for Robertson to be called up as a replacement, but for now, he will continue to play for the Dallas Stars.<\/p>\n
A: The reasons behind the decision are not entirely clear, but it is believed that Team USA was looking for players who fit certain roles and physical styles, and Robertson’s skill wasn’t enough to make up for a defensive or physicality gap in his game.<\/p>\n
A: Robertson said he isn’t sure if he’s on a reserve list for Team USA, and there hasn’t been much communication between him and the national team.<\/p>\n
A: The extra rest and motivation could make Robertson even more dangerous than he’s been to start this season, which could be beneficial for the Stars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jason Robertson’s Reaction to Being Left Off Team USA’s Roster Just over 24 hours after Team USA announced its men\u2019s hockey roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d\u2019Ampezzo, Italy, Jason Robertson publicly shared his reaction to being left off the roster. The Dallas Stars forward did not make last year\u2019s United […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":19982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19980","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/3ATR2PT7QRBUZGY4QZ2IT6DYFQ.jpg?auth=2bd5b21c8ad831b3e4c1b6b0bd9e26e22df0ae80d431de0afdff4f88b5f36028&quality=80&width=1200&height=630&focal=3126,283","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19980"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19980"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19983,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19980\/revisions\/19983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}