Sweden had a real chance to upset Team USA in the Olympic men’s hockey quarterfinal.
But when the game went to overtime, something odd happened. Rasmus Dahlin never took the ice for the Swedes. The Buffalo Sabres‘ star defenseman certainly would’ve warranted playing, but he didn’t.
Dahlin finally got a chance to talk about it Monday back in Buffalo when he spoke with local reporters.
This is how he explained what happened, via Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News:
“I was good to go. It’s not my decision. I wanted to be out there that’s for sure. It is what it is. I can’t do anything about it.”
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There was a lot of criticism of Sweden coach Sam Hallam’s playing time decisions from the outside, and this now appears to be one from Dahlin, too.
Hallam, for example, dressed Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the first game of the tournament and then didn’t give him a single shift.
He also played Vancouver Canucks star center Elias Pettersson less than 11 minutes per game.
And then you arrive at this Dahlin overtime decision.
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It’s not guaranteed anything would’ve changed if Dahlin was on the ice. Maybe Team USA’s Quinn Hughes still scores the game winner.
But the Swedish team will never know. One of its best defensemen, a guy made for the wide open play in 3-on-3 overtime, never even got to take the ice.
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