Playing internationally for your country is an honour, to be sure. But at times, for players who are already committed elsewhere to making the most of their limited window as a professional athlete, it can also be a burden.
That can be especially true when playing for a country that has been outside of the top 100 in the world for a few years. For a long time, it felt as if the club careers of Canadian players were not benefiting at all as a result of their presence in the national team.
In fact, for some players it was actually detrimental.