All-Star teams

[eva unit zero 271]

I know it's early, but I felt like it.

Here are my picks for who deserves to play in the All-Star game this season based on performance so far this season, in no order. I anticipate somewhere between half and 3/4 of these guys will be on the actual All-Star teams.

WEST:

F: Zetterberg, Iginla, Langkow, Stastny, Holmstrom, Datsyuk, Kane, Nash, Sakic, Kopitar, Cammalleri, Kariya

D: Lidstrom, Rafalski, Phaneuf, Aucoin, Zubov, Backman

G: Osgood, Backstrom, LeClaire

EAST:

F: Sundin, Brind'Amour, Stillman, Alfredsson, Richards, Ovechkin, Crosby, Briere, Malkin, Spezza, Antropov, Heatley

D: Campbell, Markov, Kaberle, Kubina, Meszaros, Ranger

G: Thomas, Biron, Gerber

[Izzy24 44]

Osgood?

[eva unit zero 271]

Osgood?

He's near the top in every important goaltending category, and he has been ******* phenomenal on the ice. I don't expect him to be there at the game, but he's played well enough that if teams were made today, he'd be there.

[zata40 3]

there are to many wings, they would never let that happen, even if they deserve it.

3 wings that might actually make it this year are lids, zata, and datz, but no more. saddly

[irishtemper14+25 11]

how bout toews for the west, i wanna see him fight crosby lol

[toby91_ca 620]

how bout toews for the west, i wanna see him fight crosby lol

Why would he fight Crosby?

[Shaman 713]

because it would be great to have that prima donna get a taste of western Conference hockey where grit gets you alot further then name appeal?

[Izzy24 44]

because it would be great to have that prima donna get a taste of western Conference hockey where grit gets you alot further then name appeal?

Yeah, he only dominates the candy-ass Eastern Conference (what 6 year-old girl couldn't?). It's not like the West, where men are men.

[Guest jaytan]

Osgood?

From what I can tell, he's been one of the best goaltenders in the league this season and still hasn't been beaten (or even tied). I'd be happy to see the Wings to ride his back all the way to and through the playoffs. Only three guys have more wins this season (all on Eastern teams), Ozzie has the third best GAA in the league at 1.60 (second-best in the West), and among those who have played more than one game, his save percentage is sixth in the league (third in the West).

How can you argue with that?

P.S. - He's also got two assists (as many or more than Jiri Hudler, Thomas Kopecky or most of our defensemen have in 12 games).

Edited October 29, 2007 by jaytan

[Izzy24 44]

Osgood?

He's near the top in every important goaltending category, and he has been ******* phenomenal on the ice. I don't expect him to be there at the game, but he's played well enough that if teams were made today, he'd be there.

From what I can tell, he's been one of the best goaltenders in the league this season and still hasn't been beaten (or even tied). I'd be happy to see the Wings to ride his back all the way to and through the playoffs. Only three guys have more wins this season (all on Eastern teams), Ozzie has the third best GAA in the league at 1.60 (second-best in the West), and among those who have played more than one game, his save percentage is sixth in the league (third in the West).

How can you argue with that?

P.S. - He's also got two assists (as many or more than Jiri Hudler, Thomas Kopecky or most of our defensemen have in 12 games).

I didn't read the "to this point" part.

[Guest wingswillwincup]

here's my prediction of what it will be , not what it would be now .....

west

zetterberg,kane,nash,cammalleri,kariya,sakic,stastny,iginla,thornton,getzlaf,kopitar,gaborik

lidstrom,rafalski,pronger,visnovski,phaneuf,zubov,

backstrom,luongo,turco

east

staal , crosby,ovechkin, jagr,sundin,heatley,spezza,richards,lecavalier,parise,briere,kovalchuk

markov,campbell,chara,bouwmeester,whitney,redden

miller,biron,ward

[handyandy_101 0]

kubina is absolutely brutal and is incredibly overpayed and overrated....i hve no idea how many points he has or how he qualifies for any coversation about allstars, but that guy has defensive lapses and commits turnovers like they are going out of style

[puckloo39 5,686]

Dom was tops in the stats last season, far more deserving than Turco, and yet was passed over last year. I guess it was because the event was held in Dallas, hence Turco got the nod? Say what you want, Dom should have been given the spot, if stats were any true qualification. Which they apparently are not.

Personally, I didn't want Dom to go anyway, and I don't really want any of our goalies there this time around. It's a shooting gallery on the goalies, and an invitation to needless injury.

[Shaman 713]

Yeah, he only dominates the candy-ass Eastern Conference (what 6 year-old girl couldn't?). It's not like the West, where men are men.

Hehe, I agree wonder why its a given the West will win the cup? because the only team that has the ability to match the west in grit is NJ and thats it. Besides, a one way forward is all well and good, but give me a a great 2 way forward like Zetterberg any day over people like Crosby (who is -4, whereas Zetterberg is leading in scoring and is +9)

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

Kubina couldnt make the all-star game if he actually was a decent defenceman. He sucks.

I'd agree with the rest of the list, I would die to see Ozzie make it, all those idiot naysayers would retract there comments quite fast.

[norrisnick 1]

Dom was tops in the stats last season, far more deserving than Turco, and yet was passed over last year. I guess it was because the event was held in Dallas, hence Turco got the nod? Say what you want, Dom should have been given the spot, if stats were any true qualification. Which they apparently are not.

Personally, I didn't want Dom to go anyway, and I don't really want any of our goalies there this time around. It's a shooting gallery on the goalies, and an invitation to needless injury.

Welcome to the '07-'08 season...

[Yzerfan1999 81]

Whoa...we've got some Crosby-Envy in the boards huh?

[Kutcher 0]

Hehe, I agree wonder why its a given the West will win the cup? because the only team that has the ability to match the west in grit is NJ and thats it. Besides, a one way forward is all well and good, but give me a a great 2 way forward like Zetterberg any day over people like Crosby (who is -4, whereas Zetterberg is leading in scoring and is +9)

Crosby's -4 is more of a reflect on how brutal his team is. Put any all-star player on Detroit and they will score alot and be a plus. Yeah Zetterberg is a great 2 way forward , but I'd take Crosby over him any day of the week.

[puckloo39 5,686]

Welcome to the '07-'08 season...

well, thanks, NN!

I know that was last season and this is this season... just saying that if stats and history are any indication, it doesn't really matter all that much which player has the better record, apparently, in terms of the All Star Game selection process.

Hasek was more deserving and didn't get selected. Even his most vociferous critics in the media remarked on his exclusion as wrong. Bettman and Co. made the final call on who went last season to Dallas, and chose Turco over Dom for political reasons and to further the PR aspect of the event.

Ozzie can be deserving too (based on 5 games so far this season), but that doesn't make him a shoo-in.

[YoungGuns1340 1]

Note: Its been years since every player heading to the All Star game deserved to be there. In the Bettman era, its about every team getting representation.

The only guys you can guarantee will be there are Hank and Lids. Other than that, youll have the typical Shane Doans and Jason Arnotts heading to the all star game, just because those teams need representation.

[puckloo39 5,686]

Note: Its been years since every player heading to the All Star game deserved to be there. In the Bettman era, its about every team getting representation.

The only guys you can guarantee will be there are Hank and Lids. Other than that, youll have the typical Shane Doans and Jason Arnotts heading to the all star game, just because those teams need representation.

Exactly so.

[Guest wingswillwincup]

Kubina couldnt make the all-star game if he actually was a decent defenceman. He sucks.

I'd agree with the rest of the list, I would die to see Ozzie make it, all those idiot naysayers would retract there comments quite fast.

it's not even 10 games he's played so let's not exagerate on how great ozzie is ....... and for christ sakes id hope he would have good numbers playing in front of a team that only allows 20 shots a game

[timothy1997 0]

I know it's early, but I felt like it.

Here are my picks for who deserves to play in the All-Star game this season based on performance so far this season, in no order. I anticipate somewhere between half and 3/4 of these guys will be on the actual All-Star teams.

WEST:

F: Zetterberg, Iginla, Langkow, Stastny, Holmstrom, Datsyuk, Kane, Nash, Sakic, Kopitar, Cammalleri, Kariya

D: Lidstrom, Rafalski, Phaneuf, Aucoin, Zubov, Backman

G: Osgood, Backstrom, LeClaire

EAST:

F: Sundin, Brind'Amour, Stillman, Alfredsson, Richards, Ovechkin, Crosby, Briere, Malkin, Spezza, Antropov, Heatley

D: Campbell, Markov, Kaberle, Kubina, Meszaros, Ranger

G: Thomas, Biron, Gerber

you are forgetting that fans are gonna vote the starters so expect starters to be something like this.

East

Crosby

Heatley

Ovechkin

Goncher

Campbell

Brodeur

West

Ignilia

Thornton

Zetterberg

Lidstrom

Pronger

Luongo

[toby91_ca 620]

Dom was tops in the stats last season, far more deserving than Turco, and yet was passed over last year. I guess it was because the event was held in Dallas, hence Turco got the nod? Say what you want, Dom should have been given the spot, if stats were any true qualification. Which they apparently are not.

Personally, I didn't want Dom to go anyway, and I don't really want any of our goalies there this time around. It's a shooting gallery on the goalies, and an invitation to needless injury.

He may have been more deserving than Turco, but there were other goalies ahead of both in my opinion. Dom was not tops in stats, or at least the most important stat as far as I am concerned (save %), all other goalie stats are too team influenced. His save % was something like 15th.

[puckloo39 5,686]

He may have been more deserving than Turco, but there were other goalies ahead of both in my opinion. Dom was not tops in stats, or at least the most important stat as far as I am concerned (save %), all other goalie stats are too team influenced. His save % was something like 15th.

In your opinion, that may be true. Dom was number one in goals against average the entire season, minus a week or two. Since the team with fewer goals against generally wins, I tend to like that stat.

Save %age is over-rated, since it is largely controlled by the quality of shots and number of SOG. If the goaltender gets lots of shots and manages to stop most of them regardless of shot potential and difficulty, his %age will be better than that of goalie who sees fewer shots, but which are more likely to be scoring chances. See Brodeur's and Dom's stats this young season for an example of that trend.

Not for the first time, the politics of the All-Star venue ruled the reality more than the facts in the All-Star Show (it's not really a game). In 1996, Jim Kelley revealed on Prime Time Sports that Dominik Hasek was chosen as the game MVP but the POB overruled the vote because Ray Bourque scored the game winner and the game was in Boston, where Bourque played most of his career.

And Turco was selected by the same NHL authorities over Hasek because the game was in Dallas. There ya have it.

I still didn't want him to go anyway, it's the principle of the thing. But as someone said earlier, it's been a long time since the participants in the ASG were actually all-stars.

Edited October 30, 2007 by puckloo39