With Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point officially unavailable due to injury, the roster had a need, perhaps specifically for a quick, right-handed shot who can kill penalties.
After being left off the team’s initially announced roster on Dec. 31, the winger who helped Team Canada to a gold medal at last year’s 4 Nations Faceoff was officially locked in to run it back, this time on an even bigger stage.
“I’m just happy for him. It’s the toughest team to make in the world – (Team Canada) and the U.S. team,” Rod Brind’Amour said post-game on Thursday. “You could pick a lot of good players that get left off. It was no snub that he didn’t make it initially; there’s just so many good players. I hate that other guys are going to miss for him to get in there, but I’m happy that he’s getting that opportunity.”
When he was given the tough news in December, he’d been told not to book a vacation for the break just yet. But as the break got closer and closer, Jarvis wanted to ensure he could at least enjoy his rare 10-day sabbatical from the sport.
The ticket to Cabo San Lucas was booked, but now, that’s a ticket that’s going to go unused.
“Obviously, I love warm weather, but this is an absolutely great reason not to go,” he gleefully said.
Instead of flip flops and sunshine, he’ll look to continue the momentum built after eclipsing the 25-goal mark earlier this week.
“They told me to stay ready. You never want to see someone go down, especially Pointer, someone I model a lot of my game after and have a ton of respect for. He’s someone who, at 4 Nations, I grew pretty close to and really enjoyed being around. It sucks that this is kind of the way it had to go, but now my job is to focus on helping the team any way I can, whether that’s playing games, being a great teammate off the ice, or doing anything I can to contribute.”