Maple Leafs' Oliver-Ekman Larsson playing time with Sweden nightmare also involves pregnant wife decision

Sweden didn't put Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the ice for a single second of its Olympic-opening matchup with the overmatched host Italy.

The Toronto Maple Leafs' defender was active as the seventh defenseman, but the top six got all the work. OEL didn't get a single shift.

That's bad enough. It's gotta be frustrating for a veteran blue-liner to work as hard as he has his whole career and not get a chance to play.

But actually, there's even another layer that makes it potentially more bothersome.

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Ekman-Larsson's wife, Maja, is expecting their second child and due in a few weeks. So she stayed at home rather than come enjoy the Olympics with her husband.

"He left his pregnant wife at home to be here," Sportsnet's Luke Fox said in a Canadian radio broadcast interview. "He didn't want to risk anything happening. She's gonna be delivering within the month or so. He left his young son (and wife) to go and chase this Olympic dream. He got silver last time in Sochi. He's been working so hard with the Leafs just to earn this honor. So he gets in the lineup and doesn't even get to throw a leg over the boards against the Italians. It's a bit of a head-scratcher."

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The roster is setup differently than an NHL gameday roster. Instead of 18 active skaters, they can have 20.

For Sweden, that meant 13 forwards instead of 12, and 7 defensemen instead of 6.

The 13th forward, Filip Forsberg, played just more than a single minute. So he didn't get much fun, either.

But for Ekman-Larsson, it has to have been particularly frustrating. Hopefully for his sake, there's more opportunity to come.

Right now, though, OEL is missing out on a lot.

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