Huberdeau Won't Play For Canada Thursday

According to TSN’s Mark Masters, Jonathan Huberdeau will not play in Thursday’s world junior pre-tournament game.

Huberdeau will miss pre-tournament game Thurs v Finns (final game of QMJHL suspension); Spott hasn't decided who'll replace him on top line
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) December 18, 2012

Team Canada takes on Finland at 10:30pm AST. The game can be seen on TSN.

Huberdeau missing Thursday’s game seems fair. His four-game Quebec Major Junior Hockey League suspension ends that night when the Saint John Sea Dogs host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at Harbour Station.

The International Ice Hockey Federation announced yesterday that Plymouth Whalers forward Stefan Noesen will not be allowed to play for Team USA at the world juniors due to a 10-game Ontario Hockey League suspension. The difference is that his suspension ends on January 11 which is after the tournament ends. Huberdeau’s suspension ends before the tourney begins on Boxing Day.

Last week, the Sea Dogs captain was named an alternate captain for Team Canada. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will be captain while Scott Harrington will wear the other ‘A.’

"It's nice to be an assistant but it's not only the three guys," Huberdeau told the Calgary Herald. “That's what is great about these tournaments. Everybody here is a superstar with their own teams.

"They all know what to do but they can still help each other out here."

Not everyone was happy with Huberdeau getting an ‘A’ on his sweater though. Edmonton Journal hockey writer Bruce McCurdy wrote a blog post entitled “Hockey Canada coughed up the puck by honouring suspended Jonathan Huberdeau.”

“To me this is just wrong,” McCurdy wrote about Huberdeau being named to Canada’s leadership team after being suspended by the Q. “The letters on the sweaters are more honorary than anything, but I don’t think that at this moment in time Jonathan Huberdeau is deserving of any such honours. He’s lucky to be on the team at all, let alone to receive a special push at a time he is under suspension by one of the CHL’s member leagues.”

Along with video of the linesman incident, McCurdy also posted links to Huberdeau’s hit on Charles Hudon is last year’s semi-final playoff series and his elbow on Matt Rupert at the Memorial Cup. That’s THREE whole videos of evidence that Huberdeau is apparently a dirty player. You can find videos of Sidney Crosby doing a lot of questionable/dirty things on the ice. I guess that means he shouldn’t be on the 2014 Olympic team.

They also have a poll on their website. 38% of voters said Huberdeau “shouldn’t even be on a team.” Funny stuff.

My point here is that, like Crosby, Huberdeau will occasionally make the undisciplined play. But the pros he will bring outweigh the cons.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation