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Carle Left Off Team USA

Team USA general manager Brian Burke announced the replacements for injured defensemen Mike Komisarek and Paul Martin -- and Matt Carle wasn't one of them.

Matt Carle can continue on with his Olympic break vacation plans, after all.

Just a few hours after Toronto defenseman Mike Komisarek announced yesterday that he would be unable to join the United States' men's hockey team in Vancouver for the Olympics – the second player to do so this week because of injury – U.S. general manager Brian Burke named his replacement players.

Carolina's Tim Gleason and Anaheim's Ryan Whitney were picked to replace defensemen Paul Martin and Komisarek, who were originally named to the team on Jan. 1.

That officially took the Carle out of the mix for one of the replacement jobs. Carle had a slimmer chance than most names mentioned to make the team because he did not partake in the U.S. Olympic Orientation camp in Illinois in August.

His hot play early in the season – when he led the NHL in plus/minus – put him on the list of possible candidates, as acknowledged by Burke.

Carle has chipped in 24 points from the Flyers' blue line that is responsible for 119 points already this season. Flyers defensemen netted a combined 141 points over 82 games last year. The Anchorage, Alaska native is second on the team (behind partner Chris Pronger) with a plus-14 rating.

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