Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner was cut from Team Canada's 4 Nations Faceoff roster after his slow start to the season, and when asked about his reaction to the decision, he admitted that he was rightfully cut but found positives to his situation.
Skinner was considered for Team Canada after playing in the Cup Final, but his inconsistent start to the season led to the roster cut.
Now, Skinner is finding the positives in Canada's decision. He'll be able to get more practice time in, rest and recovery, but most importantly called it a blessing in disguise to be with his young family.
RISHAUG: How did you process through that, deal with that news. Did it mean something to beat that goalie tonight?SKINNER: More so just cared about getting the two points tonight. I'm happy that I beat Binner obviously cause we won the game, but he beat me out in that spot for a reason. He's a hell of a goalie. So yeah, you see it for what it is. Didn't get picked.
That's alright, gives me an opportunity to keep working harder, for a little bit of rest, and there is a blessing in disguise. I get to be a father to a newborn baby for a little while. When I had Beau, I didn't have that chance, I left right away.
Oilers Goaltender Stuart Skinner Opens Up On Team Canada Roster Cut
It's fantastic to see Skinner take the news in stride, and see it as an opportunity for himself to better his game, rest and recover, and come back stronger - that's the perfect attitude for an athlete.
Skinner is also expecting to have his second child early in 2025, and may be away from the team for a game or two. This time away May be perfectly timed to give Skinner some much needed family time, and hardship on athletes that's often underrated.
Even accepting that Canada made the right decision to go with Binnington, a quality goalie by Skinner's definition, shows that the Oilers goalie knows his season hasn't been good enough so far.
Hopefully this snub from Team Canada can be a kick in the pants for Skinner to vastly improve his game, and kick his reputation as an inconsistent starter.
Skinner has still always overperformed his low salary of $2.4M while starting the vast majority of games in the last three seasons. If he can just get his save percentage up to league average of .900, he'll silence a large majority of the critics.
