John Tortorella Defends Team USA Roster After World Cup of Hockey Elimination

After the United States' dismal start to the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, head coach John Tortorella dismissed criticism of his team selection Thursday.

"To me, it's a little self-serving, and quite honestly, it doesn't make USA Hockey look any better, either," he said, per ESPN.com's Scott Burnside. "It's self-serving, and I think the people that are doing it, it really doesn't help them, either."

The United States has played two games in the group stage, losing 3-0 to Team Europe and 4-2 to Canada. Despite having one more game to play Thursday, the U.S. can't qualify for the semifinals.

Before the tournament, some questioned whether Tortorella had enough skilled attackers to make a deep run. The team's lack of scoring validated that critique, and Pittsburgh Penguins right winger Phil Kessel—one of Tortorella's notable omissions—couldn't help but offer his two cents:

Tortorella provided his thoughts on Kessel's tweet, per Burnside:

"

I just wish he didn't say anything because it makes him look bad. I don't want him to look bad. And the other guys? It's so easy. It's so easy to start chucking dirt on us when things are going bad. But when they've been playing in the program, for the whole USA Hockey, it just does not look good. And we have some work to do to get some respect back. That stuff doesn't help.

"

The Columbus Blue Jackets coach wasn't the only one taking the jab personally.

"Everyone can have their opinion. They can say what they want to say," Minnesota Wild left winger Zach Parise said, per Puck Daddy's Josh Cooper. "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."

Boston Bruins right winger David Backes was also frustrated with Kessel's comments, per Cooper:

"

It's disappointing. 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, it's disappointing.

I understand there's hard feelings if you weren't picked for the team or if whatever, 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 but everyone's got a Twitter account and you can have freedom of speech to say whatever you want and so be it.

"

Sportsnet's Faizal Khamisa thought the attention Kessel's tweet drew obscured bigger issues for Team USA:

After the Associated Press' Stephen Whyno shared Team USA general manager Dean Lombardi's thoughts, Khamisa highlighted what he saw as a troubling quote:

The United States' poor performance was bound to spark discussion. The 2016 World Cup of Hockey hasn't been as bad as the 1998 Winter Olympics, when Team USA finished in sixth place. Some members of the squad also damaged their rooms at the Olympic Village.

A group-stage exit from the World Cup doesn't call for an overhaul of the national team, but it's clear Tortorella and Lombardi's roster-building approach was flawed.