'Canadian mutants': Ex-NHLer rips Oilers star player and fans, gets ripped back

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This in, controversy already erupting over which players will and will not be selected for Team Canada at the coming Milano Cortina Olympic Games, with former American NHLer Jordan Schmaltz provocatively picking a squad absent both Edmonton Oilers aces Zach Hyman and Evan Bouchard.

For those who don’t recall Schmaltz, after a strong college career at North Dakota, he played 42 NHL games from 2016-19, never scoring but registering five assists. He then played three years in the minors before heading to Europe and retiring in 2022-23.

He’s now a colourful hockey commentator and podcaster. He bills himself as “The People’s Insider.”

Schmaltz hit a sore spot with Oilers fan, as both Hyman and Bouchard were left off the Four Nations Cup roster last winter, despite having outstanding 2023-24 season and 2024 playoffs. The concern now is that both players will be left off the Olympic team as well, despite both Hyman and Bouchard again playing brilliant hockey in the 2025 playoffs.

Oilers fans and commentators ripped into Schmaltz for his omission of the two.

Oilers fan Vaughn Woodruff @conkanen
Any lineup without Bouchard can’t be taken seriously.

Oilers fan Spud McKenzie @SpuddyMcKenzie
Dude does not know puck it seems

Oilers fan Nathan Schmidt @schmidt_np
No Bouchard means no credibility for you my dude

Oilers Nation writer Zach Laing @zjlaing
has anyone actually watched the oilers play playoff hockey in the last two years?

Oilers fan Skinner over .900? (Knows Puck) @CampbellOver900
For a team that’s played the very last game of the last 2 seasons, they are severely underwatched by the rest of the hockey world

Cult of Hockey writer Ira Cooper OriginalPouzar @coopsie39

Dobson… Bouchard is better offensively at 5 on 5, better defensively, better on the PP and now is proving to be good on the PK. Not to mention upping his game (to historic production levels and all around best d-man in the playoff levels). Oh ya, outscores away from 92 and 29. … I think they (Team Canada) could use another material driver of outscoring at 5 on 5 – that’s what Bouchard is…. Bouchard is 43-39 goals over the course of the last three years without BOTH McDavid and Drai…. One could also show the numbers for how much worse both McDavid and Drai do away from Bouchard – its substantial, their production rates go down and their goal share goes way down.

Round Two

In response, Schmaltz fired back on his critics, focusing on his exclusion of Bouchard:

Jordan Schmaltz@J_Swish24
The thing you Canadian mutants don’t realize (for the record that’s a compliment) is the reason you go with Doughty over Bouchard is fairly simple but the average fan wouldn’t understand.. when the game is on the line and into the medal rounds Makar is going to play sub 30 minutes. Paryako will give you 18-20. The other guy on the right side is going to play 10-15 minutes. They don’t need Bouchard for PP1 and he’s not exactly a penalty kill wizard. Helluva hockey player with the puck you can’t question that but who gives team Canada a better option in that role of PK / 10-15 a night on the right side? Doughty is way better suited for that assignment. Weegar / Dobson would be as well. As much as it’s an all star team you still need definitive roles and guys who understand how to play in certain scenarios. Doughty has won cups, Olympics, four nations, world juniors. And still can BALL.

This kicked off another round of criticism of Schmaltz.

Oilers fan Brad McPherson @BlueBullet1981
Got to aim higher than a 2nd pairing dmen that plays too many minutes. Parayko should not be in the mix.

Oilers fan KGYEG🇨🇦🇺🇦 @KGYEG
Parayko is only there because Armstrong is his GM and every single person knows it. He used to be really good, he’s still good, but not Team Canada good anymore. I can think of trn guys without even looking at lists I’d rather have in his spot.

Hockey fan Golden Era Hockey @NHLGoldenEra
Parayko is a more egregious pick than Doughty. He was their second worst defenseman at 4 Nations after Sanheim. They both leaked chances and couldn’t move the puck. He might give you 20 minutes but they won’t be very good ones. I’d rather have 20 Bouchard minutes, and have Bouch on PK2 (where he played in the playoffs for EDM and was fine btw). I’m also not convinced Doughty can ball as much as you seem to think. He really struggled last season, the underlying numbers aren’t pretty. We’ll see if it was mostly related to coming off injury, but he’ll be 36 y/o. Weegar is a better bet for 3RD for me.

Oilers fan Jonny Mendoza @21jonny_
So what happens if Makar gets injured? Kind of like what happened at the 4Nations. Sure would be nice to have a guy who could fill in that spot and has an abundance amount of chemistry playing with McDavid. Just a thought.

Oilers fan Jesse @edmoilerz14
I’m still not seeing anything legitimate in this second tweet. Bouchard is outstanding at 5 on 5 and did well on the PK. So the question becomes (assuming he is the 10-15 min guy like suggested): Do you want to have a better chance to win those 10-15 mins or a worse one?

My take

1. Is there a more divisive player in hockey than Bouchard? Both inside and outside Oil Country, he brings strong reactions, with one huge faction loving what he brings to the game, but another quick to rip him and call him out for any mistake.

But, for me, leaving him off Team Canada would be like leaving off Brad Park from Team Canada in 1972, or leaving off Denis Potvin in 1976, or Ray Bourque in 1987, or Rob Blake in 2002, or Duncan Keith in 2010, or Shea Weber in 2014.

You don’t leave off your second best offensive d-man from the team.

You never do that.

It’s insane to do that.

2. Someone will have to explain to me how “Canadian mutants” is a compliment.

3. Bouchard and Hyman have both been invited to Team Canada’s training camp in late August. Given how well both have played the past two seasons, and given how well they combine with Connor McDavid, both should be a lock to make Team Canada. If Hyman had been healthy against Florida, there’s a good chance the outcome of the series would have been different. Hyman was that good with his hitting, checking and attacking in the first three rounds.

As for Bouchard, he’s proven two years running that the pressure of the playoffs bring out the best in him. He’s played exceptional two-way hockey both years, adding strong penalty kill work to his repertoire this past playoff season. Finally, as good as Makar is, you need more than one power play quarterback on a team in case of injury, and Bouchard is Canada’s next best option.

4. We’ve already seen Team Canada perform with Makar, Drew Doughty and Colton Parayko as the right-shot d-men. Doughty played well at the Four Nations tournament, especially as the series went on. I agree with Schmaltz that Team Canada might well be able to use him, though his play should be carefully monitored this fall, as old d-men can fall off a cliff fast. Makar, of course, is a lock. He’s the best d-man in hockey — and it’s not close. He wasn’t great in the Four Nations, but he wasn’t bad either. Perhaps he’s saving his best for the Olympics.

As for Parayko, he struggled immensely for Team Canada in the Four Nations, moving the puck with hesitation and making numerous mistakes leading to Grade A shots against. The pace of the play appeared to get the best of him. He was a weak link on Team Canada. Picking him over Bouchard would represent a massive error in judgement on the part of Hockey Canada management.

At the Cult of Hockey

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