Team Canada hit with two major blows today ahead of the World Juniors
Team Canada is favoured heading into the World Juniors, but now they've been dealt two massive blows as two NHL stars have been ruled out of the tournament.
The last few years have been major let downs for Team Canada at the World Juniors event, with the United States coming away with a gold medal at the last two tournaments.
This season, Canada are clearly motivated to turn things around, as they've got the most star studded team at the tournament, and with potential NHL stars at every position, they're the clear favourite heading into this one.
Two NHLers not released for Team Canada at the World Juniors
While Team Canada has plenty of former first-round picks and upcoming first-round picks, the hope was that several NHL teams would release players to be able to compete at the tournament.
Unfortunately, Canada were dealt a double blow on Sunday as both Berkly Catton and Sam Dickinson were officially revealed to have have not been released by their respective NHL teams for the tournament.
That means a top forward and a top blue liner will not be taking part in the tournament for Canada, but even still, this is easily the strongest roster in the tournament.
Both Seattle and San Jose are currently dealing with injuries, and as a result, the teams simply needed both available for NHL games across the tournament, leaving Canada short handed compared to expectations.
With the likes of Zayne Parekh, Harrison Brunicke, Gavin McKenna, Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, Michael Hage and Michael Misa among others, it's easy to see why Canada is heavily favoured here, but still, they will be disappointed by Sundays news.