The Detroit Red Wings have decided rookie Michael Rasmussen will not participate in the World Junior Championship, general manager Ken Holland said.
Rasmussen is too important for the Red Wings to part with for several weeks, and decided it's better for his development that he plays regularly in the NHL rather than represent Canada in the even that runs from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia.
The 6-6, 221-pound forward got off to a slow start, with no goals and one assist in his first nine games and was a healthy scratch for a pair of games.