MIAMI — As much as Adam Fox wants the focus to be on what’s ahead, it was seemingly impossible to not address what now seems to be in the rear-view mirror. Speaking with reporters on Thursday for the first time since word came out that he was set to be a stunning omission for the United States m en’s Olympic hockey team — Seth Jones and Noah Hanifin were officially added on Friday among players who weren’t on the 4 Nations roster last year — the 27-year-old New York Rangers defenseman handled a tough situation with class. “Obviously, it’s not what you want to hear, but it is what it is,” Fox said of the call from Team USA GM Bill Guerin. “I don’t think you have any expectation, I would say, but I thought my play this year was worthy of it and my track record as well. But, it’s out of my hands at a certain point. That’s their decision, and I guess that’s how it goes.” The 2021 Norris Trophy winner as the National Hockey League’s best defenseman and a long-time representative for Team USA both at the junior and senior levels — he won a gold medal at the 2017 World Junior Championships and silver at last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off — was said by some to have hurt his case to play in Milan by his showing at the latter event, while others have suggested he’s not quite been the same since a knee-on-knee hit in the 2024 postseason. Regardless, the Jericho, N.Y. native is the third-highest scoring defenseman regardless of country since his entry into the league in 2019-20, behind only Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes, and has produced at a point-per-game pace this year (four goals and 24 assists in 28 games in a campaign also sidetracked by injury) after coming off a 61-point season in 2024-25. Making things more complicated, Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan will once again lead Team USA, who are taking teammates Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller, but not Fox, leading to a potentially awkward situation moving forward. “Adam and I have had a number of conversations around this,” Sullivan told reporters on Thursday after the team’s Winter Classic practice. “And, I will keep that conversation between Adam and I. 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.  There are very, very difficult decisions that have to be made. It is a collaborative effort on everybody’s part, and that’s just the reality of these circumstances. We’ll do our very best to be as professional and straightforward as we can be with everyone that’s involved, but Foxy and I have had a number of conversations, and I’ll keep those between us.” Fox, to his credit, echoed similar sentiments, saying that he would also elect to keep those conversations private. In the meantime, his focus remains moving forward, not only on the Winter Classic, but the remainder of a season in which the Rangers have once again surprisingly floundered, once again finding themselves out of a playoff position at the halfway point of the year. But, for those thinking that an unexpected Olympic snub might be a motivator for the team’s top defenseman, think again. “I think I’m pretty self-motivated in general,” he said. “My focus all year has been on helping the Rangers, and I think that’s where my head is at right now as well.” ...read more read less