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U.S. Olympic Camp roster announced; who was snubbed for Sochi 2014?

Now that the Canadians and Russians have released camp rosters for their inevitable Olympic runners-up in Sochi, USA Hockey has released its own 48-player pool from which the 2014 gold medal-winning team shall be plucked.

(Ed. Note: The author is from New Jersey. Deal with it.)

The roster represents 24 NHL teams, including three players – Seth Jones, John Gibson and Jacob Trouba – who have yet to appear in the League as professional players. U.S. Men's National Team Orientation Camp is from Aug. 26-27, at Kettler Capitals IcePlex in Arlington, Va.

Of the 48 players invited to the camp, 16 have previous Olympic experience. That includes Zach Parise and Ryan Suter of the Minnesota Wild; Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks; Dustin Brown of the Los Angeles Kings; and Phil Kessel of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Let’s take a look at the camp roster, shall we?

Goalies

Craig Anderson

Park Ridge, Ill.

Ottawa Senators (NHL)

John Gibson

Pittsburgh, Pa.

Norfolk Admirals (AHL)

Jimmy Howard

Syracuse, N.Y.

Detroit Red Wings (NHL)

Ryan Miller

East Lansing, Mich.

Buffalo Sabres (NHL)

Jonathan Quick

Milford, Conn.

Los Angeles Kings (NHL)

Cory Schneider

Marblehead, Mass.

New Jersey Devils (NHL)

Miller was, of course, the starter for the U.S. team in 2010 in a star-making performance. Quick was his under-understudy, as Tim Thomas was not invited back.

Miller’s inclusion here makes for a rather interesting debate for U.S. starting goalie, as this is the position at which the Americans have a blessing of riches. Quick is the prohibitive favorite for the job; said Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi, who is part of the U.S. Olympic brain trust, last month: “Judging from our meeting, it’s certainly trending that way.”

But Ryan Miller was, uh, pretty incredible in Vancouver.

Anderson, Howard and Schneider will all push for roster spots. We’ll just go ahead and assume this is Gibson’s reward for his World Junior mastery.

Defense

Zach Bogosian

Massena, N.Y.

Winnipeg Jets (NHL)

Dustin Byfuglien

Roseau, Minn.

Winnipeg Jets (NHL)

John Carlson

Colonia, N.J.

Washington Capitals (NHL)

Dan DeKeyser

Clay Township, Mich.

Detroit Red Wings (NHL)

Justin Faulk

South St. Paul, Minn.

Carolina Hurricanes (NHL)

Cam Fowler

Farmington Hills, Mich.

Anaheim Ducks (NHL)

Jake Gardiner

Minnetonka, Minn.

Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL)

Erik Johnson

Bloomington, Minn.

Colorado Avalanche (NHL)

Jack Johnson

Ann Arbor, Mich.

Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL)

Seth Jones

Plano, Texas

Nashville Predators (NHL)

Nick Leddy

Eden Prairie, Minn.

Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)

Paul Martin

Minneapolis, Minn.

Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)

Ryan McDonagh

St. Paul, Minn.

New York Rangers (NHL)

Brooks Orpik

San Francisco, Calif.

Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)

Kevin Shattenkirk

Greenwich, Conn.

St. Louis Blues (NHL)

Ryan Suter

Madison, Wis.

Minnesota Wild (NHL)

Jacob Trouba

Rochester, Mich.

Winnipeg Jets (NHL)

Keith Yandle

Boston, Mass.

Phoenix Coyotes (NHL)

Remember: The Sochi Games will be held on an international ice surface. Does that mean someone like Brooks Orpik, a much better player on a smaller surface, might not make the cut? Potentially. But he’s also a player with plenty of experience on a team that needs it.

Lambert projected the starting six as Suter, Kevin Shattenkirk, Keith Yandle, Ryan McDonagh, Paul Martin and Dustin Byfuglien, with Jack Johnson and Justin Faulk in reserve. Personally, it’s hard to imagine Erik Johnson not making this roster, but we shall see.

SNUBS: Alex Goligoski would seem to be a glaring one, at least for a camp invite. Matt Carle had a terrible 2013 season, but many thought he’d get an invite here. Tim Gleason, Tom Gilbert and Ron Hainsey might have been deemed from another generation of American Olympian – all three are 30 or older. As for Rob Scuderi, what part of “international ice surface” didn’t you understand?

Forwards

Justin Abdelkader

Muskegon, Mich.

Detroit Red Wings (NHL)

David Backes

Minneapolis, Minn.

St. Louis Blues (NHL)

Beau Bennett

Gardena, Calif.

Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)

Nick Bjugstad

Minneapolis, Minn.

Florida Panthers (NHL)

Dustin Brown

Ithaca, N.Y.

Los Angeles Kings (NHL)

Ryan Callahan

Rochester, N.Y.

New York Rangers (NHL)

Alex Galchenyuk

Milwaukee, Wis.

Montreal Canadiens (NHL)

Patrick Kane

Buffalo, N.Y.

Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)

Ryan Kesler

Livonia, Mich.

Vancouver Canucks (NHL)

Phil Kessel

Madison, Wis.

Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL)

Trevor Lewis

Salt Lake City, Utah

Los Angeles Kings (NHL)

Kyle Okposo

St. Paul, Minn.

New York Islanders (NHL)

T.J. Oshie

Warroad, Minn.

St. Louis Blues (NHL)

Max Pacioretty

New Canaan, Conn.

Montreal Canadiens (NHL)

Kyle Palmieri

Smithtown, N.Y.

Anaheim Ducks (NHL)

Zach Parise

Minneapolis, Minn.

Minnesota Wild (NHL)

Joe Pavelski

Plover, Wis.

San Jose Sharks (NHL)

Bobby Ryan

Cherry Hills, N.J.

Ottawa Senators (NHL)

Brandon Saad

Gibsonia, Pa.

Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)

Craig Smith

Madison, Wis.

Nashville Predators (NHL)

Paul Stastny

St. Louis, Mo.

Colorado Avalanche (NHL)

Derek Stepan

Hastings, Minn.

New York Rangers (NHL)

James van Riemsdyk

Middletown, N.J.

Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL)

Blake Wheeler

Robbinsdale, Minn.

Winnipeg Jets (NHL)

Again, it’s going to be interesting to see how the ice surface influences the roster. There’s a lot of speed here, and some significant offense in the younger players like Galchenyuk. How many role players do the Americans take vs. how many skill players to they bring to Sochi?

Lambert’s projections seem fairly bang-on, although one wonders if either T.J. Ohsie or Kyle Okposo can finally break through. Remember, sometimes it just takes one wake-up call to get a player’s stock on the rise; how great was Okposo for the New York Islanders in the playoffs last season?

SNUBS: Jason Pominville has dual citizenship; there has to be something more to him not getting an invite. Brandon Dubinsky is also among the most prominent, but one assumes the addition of Stepan made him expendable. Hey, just like with the Rangers! Invitees from 2009’s camp that didn’t come back this year included Ryan Malone of the Tampa Bay Lightning and David Booth of the Vancouver Canucks, whose stock has tumbled at an Enron-like level. All of these players can get together at a venue of their choosing and lament the fact they're not at camp and Trevor Lewis, inexplicably, is.

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