As if being manhandled right out of the World Cup of Hockey by Team Canada wasn't bad enough, Team USA players then had to deal with some of their peers chiming in on social media.
Following the Americans' 4-2 loss to Canada on Tuesday night that eliminated them from the World Cup after just two games, two NHL players left off the USA roster took to Twitter to voice their opinions, including Stanley Cup champion Phil Kessel of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"Just sitting around the house tonight w my dog. Felt like I should be doing something important, but couldn't put my finger on it," Kessel tweed from his [at sign]PKessel81 account.
Some 15 hours later, the tweet had generated more than 65,000 retweets and 92,000 likes. The tweet _ and one made by the Ottawa Senators' Bobby Ryan _ made an impact with Team USA players, who responded Wednesday in Toronto.
"It's disappointing," USA forward David Backes said. "It's almost to say that we were coasting or don't care, weren't representing our countries as well as we could have and for other guys that have worn the jersey. I understand there are hard feelings if you weren't picked for the team ... but the comments are, I think as a team guy and as a guy that stands by my teammates, win lose or draw, it's a little distasteful and aggravating."
Added Team USA's Zach Parise: "Whatever. Everyone can have their opinion. They can say what they want to say. We were here. We tried hard, we played hard, and came up short. Didn't Phil have surgery? I don't think he could even play, anyway. His tweet didn't really make sense."
In a response to a tweet directed at him, Ryan responded at [at sign]b_ryan9 that he would "kill USA hockey with kindness and maybe they'll let me play over 35 adult worlds if I'm not a defensive liability by then."
Backes said those tweets will not be forgotten once the 2016-17 NHL season begins.
"Everyone's got a Twitter account and you can have freedom of speech to say whatever you want and so be it, but those comments don't get lost in the fray and those comments are there and have been read and I think will be remembered when whatever happens going forward happens going forward," he said.
