Robertson: Team USA snub 'hurts your ego'
Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson expressed his disappointment Friday following his controversial omission from the United States Olympic men's hockey roster.
"Obviously, it hurts your ego, but I'm not going to change the way I play, and I'm happy to keep doing it here," Robertson said, per Lia Assimakopoulos of The Dallas Morning News. "I think I just strive to be the best whenever I can be. It just so happened this year was an Olympic year. That's not gonna stop me from doing that the rest of the season."
The U.S. Olympic team passed over Robertson despite the 26-year-old ranking sixth in the NHL with 24 goals and leading American-born players with 48 points this season.
Robertson was also left off last February's 4 Nations Face-Off squad after an underwhelming start to the 2024-25 campaign. He said Friday that he believed his performance this year warranted a spot on the roster for Milan Cortina.
"Yeah, I thought that this year was different than last year," Robertson said. "Obviously, last year, I didn't think I was good enough. Now, I think I did. It's their choice, their decision. That's it."
Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin assembled the USA's Olympic roster. Clayton Keller of the Utah Mammoth and Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres were the only forwards to make the team who weren't part of the 4 Nations group that lost in the final to Canada.
The U.S. can still call on Robertson as an injury replacement.