Dean Lombardi and company at Team USA headquarters overthought this one.

Phil Kessel was a surprising omission from the United States' World Cup of Hockey team when the full squad was announced Friday, and the decision is no less curious 48 hours later. In fact, it's only becoming more difficult to justify, especially when you look at the numbers.

While Kessel saw a drop in production in his first season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he still managed to score 25 goals, a number most forwards would kill for. More importantly, he's lighting it up in the playoffs. He has nine goals and nine assists in 18 games as the Penguins prepare to play for the Stanley Cup. He now has 22 goals in 40 career playoff games, all the more impressive considering the Toronto Maple Leafs wasted his prime. He rises to the occasion when the competition is the stiffest, which will be the case in the fall at the World Cup.

It's as simple as this: Only one American-born player has more points than Kessel since 2010, and only one American-born player has scored more goals than Kessel since 2010.

Goals since 2010

Points since 2010

Canada proved at the Sochi Olympics that even in a short tournament, the most talented team is going to win. For the Americans to win the World Cup, they need the Kessels of the world on the ice, not - with all due respect - the Callahans, Dubinskys, and Abdelkaders.

"It is what it is," Kessel said Sunday of his World Cup snub. It was the diplomatic answer. The truth is, it's a foolish decision, and the Americans will regret it.

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Joel Ward isn't a fan of media day.

The San Jose Sharks forward let it be known Sunday that he'd rather be watching television hours before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

"I don't like the hoopla too much," Ward said, according to Sports Illustrated's Alex Prewitt. "I'd rather be hibernating, caved up in my room, watching 'Ellen.'"

The "Ellen" watching is working for Ward, and pro athletes are nothing if not creatures of habit. The 35-year-old had the second-best statistical season of his career, scoring 21 goals and adding 22 assists in 79 games. He's been a force in the postseason as well, with six goals and five assists in 18 games.

It's the unheralded guys who go a long way in helping a team lift the Stanley Cup, and the Washington Capitals were open about the fact they missed Ward after they were eliminated in the second round by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Game 1 between the Penguins and Sharks goes Monday at 8 p.m. ET in Pittsburgh.

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Joe Thornton's playoff beard is nothing short of majestic.

Upkeep, however, is taxing.

In terms of how it's being received at home, the reviews are mixed.

On one hand, Thornton said his wife "hates it," but the family kitten enjoys putting her paws in it.

Until this Stanley Cup chase is over, the cat's likely going to remain the happier of the two.

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There are few things to complain about when you're getting ready to play in the Stanley Cup Final.

Case in point, Pittsburgh Penguins leading playoff scorer Phil Kessel is taking a rather level-headed approach to the baffling decision not to include him in Team USA's World Cup roster.

Related: John Scott wants to form World Cup team with Phil Kessel, other snubs

"You're always disappointed, but it is what it is, Kessel told reporters Sunday. "I think I’ve had a pretty good playoffs and I’ve always done pretty good for them when I’ve played (for Team USA). But we are in the Stanley Cup Final, so I can't be that disappointed."

He wasn't the only one surprised by the omission.

Kessel led the American team in scoring at the Sochi Olympics in 2014 and is averaging a point per game in the postseason, but the powers that be decided to go a different direction in terms of team building.

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The stage has been set for the 2016 Stanley Cup Final, with the Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks beginning their series Monday at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

Who will take home the Cup this year?

Watch on as the Penguins and Sharks battle it out in an NHL 94 simulation of the final. (Hint: it's a sweep.)

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Trevor Daley is keeping the door ever-so-slightly open on a return during the Stanley Cup Final.

The Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman suffered an ankle injury on May 21 that effectively ended his postseason, and while Daley admitted Sunday the expected timeline of recovery is four-to-eight weeks, he's not ready to rule himself out completely.

Even if the series goes seven games, Daley would have been out of the lineup only three-and-a-half weeks. He will not, however, require surgery.

Daley averaged over 22 minutes of ice time per game through 15 playoff appearances, and contributed a goal and an assist to the Penguins' offense.

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