Just minutes before puck drop in the NHL‘s Four Nations Face-Off Final, Team Canada announced a huge absence in their lineup, as a star teammate of Sidney Crosby has been ruled out due to illness and won’t participate in the game against Team USA.
Sidney Crosby‘s chase for his fifth major championship with Team Canada is now facing an even steeper uphill battle, as one star on the True North’s defensive front has been ruled out for the matchup with Team USA.
Team Canada star defenseman Josh Morrissey has been ruled out of the game against the USA due to an illness, as reported by Chris Johnston. Thomas Harley will step in for the Winnipeg Jets defender on short notice ahead of the biggest game of his career.
The USA left fellow Jets Kyle Connor out of their lineup, as a healthy scratch, thus Connor Hellebuyck, the American goaltender will be the only Winnipeg’s representative in the Final.
Without a star defender, again
Crosby and Team Canada will find themselves in a similar position to the one they faced during their Round Robin matchup with the USA. Last Saturday, the Canadians were without their best defender, Cale Makar, who was also under the weather.
This time around, the Maple Leaf will have Makar in their top defensive pairing but will be without their Top-4 defenseman, Morrissey. Whether Canada has learned from their past experience and can prevail over the US without one of their stars remains to be seen.