Stamkos not going to Olympics for Canada

According to Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman superstar Steven Stamkos will not play for Team Canada in Sochi.

Steven Stamkos’s Olympic dream will not be realized in 2014.

The Tampa Bay Lightning forward was not given the clearance for game participation from his doctors after undergoing a CT scan Wednesday.

Stamkos had targeted a return to NHL action Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings with the hope that he’d be on a plane to Sochi on Sunday.

“Today is obviously very disappointing for me,” Stamkos said via statement. “I honestly believe that we did everything possible in order to have my injured leg ready in time for the Olympics, but I realize you can’t force healing. I know, in the best interest of my long-term health, I cannot represent Canada in Sochi, as much as I would like to. I would like to thank the training staff for their dedication and hard work, and I look forward to returning to the Lightning once cleared by the medical team.”

After undergoing his CT scan (which offers a three-dimensional view of the bone) Wednesday afternoon, Stamkos met with Lightning medical director Ira Gutentag, who was unable to clear Stamkos for game participation. Rehabilitation with the Lightning training staff will continue and the centreman will be reevaluated in two to three weeks.

“After reviewing the CT scan this afternoon, Dr. Gutentag made it clear to me and to Steven that the tibia is not completely healed and therefore he should not be participating in game action at any time in the near future,” Team Canada and Lightning GM Steve Yzerman said via press release. “Although the doctor was very pleased to this point with the healing process, he explained that the callus surrounding the fracture site is not 100 percent consolidated, and Steven will not be cleared to play in a game until that happens. It was a pretty clear-cut decision, no grey areas at all.”

Since breaking his right tibia when crashing into a goalpost in Boston on Nov. 11, the 23-year-old Stamkos has been out of the lineup but busying rehabbing his leg and maintaining his conditioning. He has been practising with full contact with the hope of being game-ready for the Olympics. In 2010, Stamkos, then 19, was a healthy reserve player for the gold-medal-winning national team but did not participate in the Vancouver Games.

“It means everything,” Stamkos told sportnet.ca recently of representing his home country in the Olympics. “I’m going to do everything I can to make that happen. If it doesn’t, then I can at least look myself in the mirror and say I did everything possible to give myself a chance.”

Sidney Crosby, the captain for Team Canada, was disappointed to hear that Stamkos would not be heading to Sochi.

"It’s tough to see. I think we all figured if there’s anyone that’s going to find a way back, it would be him," Crosby said, after scoring a goal and adding an assist in Pittsburgh’s 5-1 win at Buffalo Wednesday night. "That being said, it’s probably more difficult for him than anyone else. You feel for him, but we obviously have to move forward."

Canada has a deep crop of healthy forwards from which to choose a replacement. Among them, Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux, Pittsburgh’s James Neal and Tampa Bay’s Martin St. Louis are believed to be strong candidates.

Crosby declined to suggest who he might favour as a candidate to replace Stamkos.

"With different guys in the mix, I think it’s a good problem to have," Crosby said. "But nonetheless, I don’t think it’s an easy decision at all."

–With files from Canadian Press

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