Rangers star Adam Fox 'disappointed' after not making U.S. Olympic team

MIAMI — Adam Fox got the call on Wednesday from Team USA general manager Bill Guerin, who delivered the bad news: He did not make the U.S. team for the Olympics.

“Billy called me and let me know,’’ Fox said after the Rangers’ practice at loanDepot Park, where they will play the Florida Panthers on Friday night in the NHL’s Winter Classic. “Obviously, it’s not what you want to hear, but it is what it is.’’

Fox, who returned to the lineup Wednesday after missing 14 games with a shoulder injury and scored a power-play goal in the Rangers’ 6-3 loss to Washington, said he thought he had played well enough this season to make the team. There also was his track record as a former Norris Trophy winner (2021) as the NHL’s top defenseman; he was a runner-up for the award in 2024.

But the Jericho native did not play well in last season’s NHL 4 Nations Face-Off tournament and was on the ice when Connor McDavid scored the winning goal in overtime for the Canadians. The emergence of Florida defenseman Seth Jones, who helped the Panthers win their second straight Stanley Cup last season, changed the calculus for Guerin and the U.S. brain trust — which includes Rangers general manager Chris Drury and Rangers coach Mike Sullivan — and Fox was left out.

“I don’t know if you have an expectation [to make the team],’’ Fox said. “Obviously it’s disappointing, but like I said, I thought I played as well as I think I could have. And that decision becomes out of your hands at a certain point. So yeah, it is what it is and you’ve just got to move on.’’

Sullivan, who will coach the United States team, said he has spoken to Fox about the decision, though he wouldn’t share the tenor of the conversation.

“Adam and I have had a number of conversations around this, and I will keep that conversation between Adam and I,’’ Sullivan said. “What I will tell you is that these teams that are being picked are the best of the best, and there’s so many good players, and there are very, very difficult decisions that have to be made.

“And it is a collaborative effort on everybody’s part, and that’s just the reality of these circumstances. And we’ll do our very best to be as professional and straightforward as we can be with everyone that’s involved.’’

Fox insisted his relationship is fine with Sullivan and Drury, who is one of Guerin’s assistants with the U.S. team.

“Yeah, [my] focus from the start of the year has been with the Rangers,’’ he said. “Whatever that decision was, I think . . . we have a lot of games until that [Olympic] break. So I think my focus is still with the Rangers and trying to win some games here.’’

Meanwhile, the Rangers are enjoying the experience leading up to playing in the Winter Classic, one of the NHL’s showcase events every season.

“I mean, it is a different event,’’ Mika Zibanejad said. “You look at the, first of all, the amount of people that are watching it, that’s in the stands, the hype around it . . . We’ve had cameras following us in the locker room [for TNT’s documentary], like it’s a big spectacle in that way.

“You have to remind yourself that it’s two points that are important, too. It’s the same two points you [get from winning] any other game, but it becomes a special game.’’

The Rangers (19-18-5) are in need of two points, given where they are in the standings. They have lost three straight (0-2-1) and are three points out of the nearest playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 40 games to play.

Notes & quotes: Rangers captain J.T. Miller, who is on injured reserve, practiced in a red non-contact jersey. He is not a candidate to play Friday, Sullivan said . . . With forwards Noah Laba and Conor Sheary getting injured Wednesday, the Rangers called up forwards Brett Berard, Justin Dowling and Anton Blidh from Hartford and returned Brennan Othmann to Hartford. Sheary, who has a lower-body injury, was placed on LTIR and Sullivan said “he’s longer-term right now . . . I wouldn’t expect him anytime soon.’’ Laba, who suffered an upper-body injury when he was hit by Tom Wilson, is considered week-to-week . . . D Urho Vaakanainen did not make the Finnish Olympic team. “I haven’t played a lot,’’ he said. He’s been a healthy scratch 14 of the last 17 games.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.