Eastern All-Stars, Jordan Staal Update

The Eastern Conference All-Star Team, aka Montreal Canadiens, was filled out today. Here is the complete roster: (* denotes fan-selected starters)

Forwards
Evgeni Malkin -- Pittsburgh*
Sidney Crosby -- Pittsburgh*
Alex Kovalev -- Montreal*
Jeff Carter -- Philadelphia
Danny Heatley -- Ottawa
Ilya Kovalchuk -- Atlanta
Alexander Ovechkin -- Washington
Zach Parise -- New Jersey
Marc Savard -- Boston
Eric Staal -- Carolina
Thomas Vanek -- Buffalo
Vincent LeCavalier -- Tampa Bay

Defense
Andrei Markov -- Montreal*
Mike Komisarek -- Montreal*
Jay Bouwmeester -- Florida
Zdeno Chara -- Boston
Thomas Kaberle -- Toronto
Mark Streit -- New York Islanders

Goal
Carey Price -- Montreal*
Henrik Lundqvist -- New York Rangers
Tim Thomas -- Boston

I'm fatigued from railing about the absolutely awful selection process and results for the NHL All Star Game, so I will leave the assault up to you intrepid readers. Go for it!

In other new, Pittsburgh has signed Jordan Stall to a 4-year contract extension, beginning next year. A $16 million package over the term.

Two ways to interpret this news -- either the Penguins are committed to Staal for the long term, and have made this splash now to signal that he is off the market, or potential trading partners were balking at doing a deal for Staal in the last year of his contract, and locking him up removes that obstacle. It should become clear soon which is the case.

More to come later . . .

Nash An All-Star -- Mason Snubbed

Rick Nash was named today to the Western Conference All-Star team, according to the roster released by the NHL at Noon EST. Unfortunately, Steve Mason was left off the squad. Here is the complete Western Roster: (*denotes fan-elected starter)

Forwards:
Jonathan Toews -- Chicago *
Patrick Kane -- Chicago *
Ryan Getzlaf -- Anaheim *
Jarome Iginla -- Calgary
Milan Hejduk -- Colorado
Rick Nash -- Columbus
Mike Modano -- Dallas
Pavel Datsyuk -- Detroit
Dustin Brown -- Los Angeles
Shane Doan -- Phoenix
Keith Tkachuk -- St. Louis
Joe Thornton -- San Jose

Defense
Scott Neidermeyer -- Anaheim*
Brian Campbell -- Chicago*
Sheldon Souray -- Edmonton
Dan Boyle -- San Jose
Shea Weber -- Nashville
Nick Lidstrom -- Detroit

Goal
J.S. Giguere -- Anaheim*
Roberto Luongo -- Vancouver
Niklas Backstrom--Minnesota

Now the politics and whining begins. While Mason clearly deserved it on merits, Luongo was made the token Canuck. What about Daniel Sedin, who is having a great year? We can go on and on, but I'd like to hear your thoughts first about who got a gift, and who got the shaft.

Eastern Conference announced tomorrow, and Young Stars on Friday. Mason had darn well better be in the Young Stars game!!!

All Star Absurdity

OK, I get it. The All Star Game returns to Montreal for their 100th Anniversary. Wonderful! Terrific!! C'est Magnifique! I hope Montreal really revels in their season long celebration of a century of hockey. Why, though, must this celebration destroy the All Star Game???

Let's look at the starting lineups. Really pretty simple to do: 4 Montreal Canadiens and 2 Pittsburgh Penguins for the East, and 3 each from the Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks in the West. To the other 26 teams, thanks for participating and we have some lovely parting gifts for you.

I mean seriously, give me a break. Nobody in the starting lineup from Boston, San Jose or Detroit, the best three teams in Hockey right now???? Let's see, who else is missing . .. . oh yeah, guy with the last name of Ovechkin or something. Shouldn't he start? Nahhh . . .

OK, Montreal is only marginally responsible here, but it just points out the foolishness of the process. (And yes, I also rail against fan selected All Star Teams in other sports). Let's examine more closely:

Let's use the forwards as the first example: Malkin and Crosby are 1st and 3rd in points, and 1st and 3rd in assists. No argument. Getzlaf is 27th in goals, but 7th in assists and points. Again, no beef there. Kane is 22nd in goals, 16th in assists, 14th in points. On the team? Sure. Starter? No. Toews is off the radar in all of the categories (47th in assists, 88th in goals, 61st in points). Exciting young player? Absolutely. Not this year -- have a seat. Kovalev? Please . . . 62nd in goals, 59th in assists, 68th in points. The 100 year anniversary thing puts him in the game, but otherwise he would be enjoying this game from the jacuzzi at home.

Here are your starters at forward, IMHO: East: Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin (with strong consideration to Jeff Carter and Mark Savard) West: Getzlaf, Daniel Sedin, Jerome Iginla.

Let's switch to goaltender, which is even whackier:To be fair, Carey Price is at least in the running being 2nd in wins, 5th in GAA, 5th in save percent and 6th in shutouts (within the Eastern Conference) However, what about Tim Thomas? While splitting time with Manny Ferndandez, he is 2nd in the East in wins, 2nd in GAA, 1st in save percent and 1st in shutouts.

In the West, J.S. Giguere is not even in the same area code as the leaders. Heck, he doesn't even have the best save percentage or GAA on his team! Even though he is a rookie, Steve Mason is the choice here. He has played 20 games, and leads the universe in each category. Don't want a rookie? Nabokov is the choice then.

I'm all for fan involvement, but let's not make this a total mockery. C'mon Bettman, let's get some credibility here.