Sam Bennett is a proven big-game contributor.
The Florida Panthers forward has been a key part of back-to-back Stanley Cup titles. He was also a crucial member of Canada's team that won the 4 Nations Faceoff.
That wasn't enough to get Bennett onto the Team Canada roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics, though.
Bennett was likely the biggest name snubbed from the roster, which was released on Wednesday at 12 noon ET.
"Biggest surprise for me is Sam Bennett out," Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman posted on X. "I did not see that coming."
This is why it happened.
Why didn't Sam Bennett make Team Canada's Olympic hockey roster?
Bennett didn't make it because he got squeezed out by two new guys.
The choice came down to Bo Horvat or Nick Suzuki, except then instead of keeping one, Canada decided to have both on the roster.
That squeezed out Bennett.
"It was a really hard decision for Team Canada not to take Sam Bennett," The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun wrote on X. "For a while, the debate was taking Horvat or Suzuki. When Team Canada decided to take both, that meant leaving off another 4 Nations forward. That fell on Bennett. It was an agonizing decision for Team Canada."
Clearly, Canada has a ton of talent. Leaving Bennett off is more of a bummer for him than it is for the Canadian team's chances of winning gold.
It still was quite surprising to see his name off the list.
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