All-Star Stuff...

Let's be honest, the All-Star Game is a joke. From the ballot - where Sergei Gonchar was on it without playing a single game - to the voting process, to the suspensions, to Nicklas Backstrom refusing to take part in an 18-minute game so he can rest, it's all a bunch of crap. (The way to fix it is to make the entire ballot a write-in and not have boxes to check next to pictures of "super stars".)

That said, I do normally look forward to the Skills Competition. Last night, however, was not a shining moment in NHL history as Doc Emerick would have you believe.

There was so much down time during the broadcast that I felt like I was watching an NFL game (I'm pretty sure I could have cooked a steak in the time between the Young Stars game and the accuracy contest). The commercial breaks were so long I felt like I was watching an MTV show. The commercials themselves were so overplayed that I felt like I was watching a Rangers game, where I see the same Bud Light commercial 8 times in 150 minutes. Except last night, it was Chris Berman "going all the way!" and losing 41 pounds.

And if they show that unfunny chump who hosts "Sports Soup" one time during the All-Star Game, I'm going to turn it off. Okay, that's not true, mainly because I won't be watching the game fully (I'll be working so I will catch it in pieces).

They also dropped the ball terribly with the Young Stars game. There were 14 goals scored in it, but they might've shown 8 being scored. Every time a goal went in, they were showing some half-motion replay of a shot hitting the post or one of Carey Price's 4 saves in the game. They spoke in great length about Marc Staal - which I appreciate - but I would have rathered them show me the goal being scored while speaking instead of his babyface. They had Pat LaFontaine speaking throughout the whole third "period" at a low-volume so I couldn't hear half of what he said. The 2nd period started while I was still watching Chris Berman's diet, and when the broadcast returned, we were treated to the sight of a young girl enjoying some food with her little brothers instead of the game. By the time they showed the ice, we were 34 seconds in.

It was just a mess of a broadcast. If the NHL is going to such great lengths (as a one-game suspension!) to get all of it's stars there (look, it's Mike Modano and Stephane Robidas!), you think they wouldn't have hired a high school AV club to do the event and would've shelled out money for a real crew.

That Ovechkin Goal

OK, the Pond of Dreams short is still my favorite All-Star Game moment ever. But we've got a new one atop the list for best Skills Competition moments. Sorry, Pierre Turgeon and Adam Oates doing breakaways to "Rhythm Is A Dancer" in 1993.

Most of us have already seen this a million times. But the more you watch it, the more ridiculous the whole thing becomes. And one thing I just noticed that makes this even more impressive - Ovechkin shoots the puck in with Evgeni Malkin's stick. Malkin is lefty; Ovechkin, of course, is righty. So not only do you have a SportsCenter-friendly highlight, but it's also an extremely rare instance of a hockey player taking a shot with the opposite hand. And while ESPN will be too busy talking about the Dallas Cowboys to notice these little things, at least we can all marvel at the skills of one Alexander Ovechkin - a player who should definitely be the face of the NHL.

Bryan's Mid-Year Awards

The whole idea of mid-year awards is retarded. We don't know who's going to make the playoffs. We don't know who's going to crap out down the stretch, and we don't know who's going to make a second-half charge. All we know is that everyone else is doing year-end awards, and so will we. I'll submit my ballot, and perhaps Zach will do so later.

Hart Trophy

- Who Usually Wins: Best scorer on a good team, almost without exception. Either that or an extremely good goalie on an awful team.

- Consensus Pick: Alexander Ovechkin, Capitals.

- My Pick: Ovechkin. I hate to go with the masses, but this one's too easy to pass up. And not just because he's leading the league in goals. It's mostly because he had a crummy October and so did the Capitals. Once Ovechkin picked up his game, the Capitals became the force they were for the second half of last season. That is pretty much the definition of "valuable".

Art Ross Trophy

- Who Usually Wins: The leading point scorer in the league. Obviously.

- Consensus Pick: Evgeni Malkin, Penguins.

- My Pick: Malkin. He's got a 10-point lead, which is a lot to make up. But I think he'll taper off down the stretch. If Pittsburgh is going to be as good as they should be, one line can't do it all.

Calder Trophy

- Who Usually Wins: It's supposed to go to the "top rookie", but it's almost always the first-year player who nets the most points or becomes an above-average starting goalie.

- Consensus Pick: Steve Mason, Blue Jackets.

- My Pick: Bobby Ryan, Ducks. Everyone's high on Mason, and he's done a great job - but how do we know Mason isn't a creation of the Jackets' system? After all, Pascal Leclaire put up similar numbers just one year ago. Ryan, on the other hand, is averaging a point a game for the Ducks and is leading all rookies in goals despite only playing 31 games.

Vezina Trophy

- Who Usually Wins: Martin Brodeur The best goalie in the league - not just based on wins, but on the goalie's ability to carry his team and put that team in a position to win.

- Consensus Pick: Steve Mason, Blue Jackets.

- My Pick: Henrik Lundqvist, Rangers. This is a really tough year to pick a Vezina winner because so many top goalies have missed time and because more teams are rotating goalies. Ultimately, for me, it goes to Lundqvist. His GAA and save percentages aren't anything special, but he's easily the league's best shootout goalie, and since the Rangers have relied so heavily on shootout wins, he gets the nod over other goalies with similar stats.

Norris Trophy

- Who Usually Wins: The top point-getter among defensemen.

- Consensus Pick: Nicklas Lidstrom, Red Wings.

- My Pick: Mark Streit, Islanders. Call me a homer if you want... but consider the facts. Streit is tied for third in scoring among defensemen. He averages 25 minutes a game. He has 76 blocked shots, which is way more than most of the defensemen atop the scoring charts. And most tellingly, he's a minus-3 on a team that is absolutely atrocious; this minus-3 is the best plus-minus total out of players who have been with the Islanders all year.

Adams Trophy

- Who Usually Wins: The coach of a team who goes from being crappy to being good in one year.

- Consensus Pick: Claude Julien, Bruins.

- My Pick: Mike Keenan, Flames. Most people can't name three players on the Flames. And yet, the Flames lead the Northwest by nine points. Given the travel involved in playing in the same division as Minnesota and Colorado, that's pretty impressive.

Lady Byng Trophy

- Who Usually Wins: A high-scoring player on a good team who doesn't get many penalty minutes.

- Consensus Pick: Nobody really picks the Lady Byng trophy winner at mid-season.

- My Pick: Daniel Sedin, Vancouver. I'm not sure how much more "gentlemanly" you can get than 22 penalty minutes and a total of five hits thrown.

Selke Trophy

- Who Usually Wins: An offensively-inclined player who has a good plus-minus and, more importantly, a solid reputation as a two-way player, whether it's actually true or not.

- Consensus Pick: This is another one nobody really pays attention to until year-end. But the consensus is probably Pavel Datsyuk from Detroit. And since this is as much of a "reputation" award as the NHL offers, he'll probably win it again.

- My Pick: Mike Richards, Philadelphia.

So there you have it. Some prognostication that will, ultimately, mean nothing.

And since this is All-Star Weekend, we will take this opportunity to link to the greatest All-Star moment of my lifetime - the Pond of Dreams short, which was shown at the 2000 All-Star Game. Enjoy.

"All-Star" Game...

I think we all know the All-Star Game is a joke, so I won't dwell on it further. But hey, this year it is on a weekend and not a Wednesday night!

I am, however, happy that Henrik Lundqvist and Mark Streit deservingly made the team. Nik Zherdev probably deserved consideration, but 4 Canadiens on the team when only one belongs (Andrei Markov) leaves out deserving players like Zherdev, Simon Gagne, and Alex Semin. 

The Young Stars game is always fun but is never really taken seriously. This year, it's Rookies vs. Sophomores and I love the idea. 

My one gripe is that I would have liked to have seen Kyle Okposo (13 points, 29 games) represent the rookies instead of Steven Stamkos (14 points, 40 games), but did we really expect the NHL to do that?

* * * 

In other news, Rangers 1st round pick in 2008 Michael del Zotto was just traded along with future #1 overall selection Johnny Tavares in the OHL. They were traded from the Oshawa Generals (Eric Lindros' former team) to the London Knights along with a goalie for a winger, a goalie, a defenseman, and six - yes, 6! - draft picks. London gave up 6 draft picks and 3 roster players for a goalie and then 2 players who might play in the NHL next year (or in del Zotto's case, atleast the AHL).

All-Star Game Flaws...

For the NHL All-Star Game, the fans vote for the starters. I really have no problem with this, except for the fact that the entire Eastern Conference starting line-up will be made up of Canadiens. Mike Komisarek? Really? I mean, I know there isn't much in Montreal except fantastic strip clubs, legal gamblin, and bilingual hockey games, but if you are already voting for Saku Koivu, Alex Tanguay, Alex Kovalev, Andrei Markov, and Carey Price (aka the guy with the severely unimpressive 2.68 GAA), do you really need to vote for Komisarek, who is having a very bad year? For Christ's sake, Komisarek has over 150,000 votes, nearly 5 times more than 3rd place Mike Green's 36,000.

Anyway, my beef is, as always, with the pre-made ballot.

I remember a few seasons ago (I believe 2002-03), Curtis Joseph was on the ballot. At that point, he was injured, and played in just 1 game with the Red Wings. He had lost that game. Yet, he was still on the ballot.

This year, there are a bunch of curious choices which obviously prove that this ballot was made in the off-season and nobody took the time to update it.

For starters (no pun intended), J.P. Dumont (17 points) isn't on the ballot. While Ryan Getzlaf is on it, his linemates Corey Perry (slow start but absolutely on fire) and Teemu Selanne are not. Pascal "Just Got Off of Injured Reserve" Leclaire is also on the ballot. The forwards don't bother me as much though, because there are a ton on the ballot and 3 write-in spots.

In the East, there are atrocities galore. Ryan Whitney AND Sergei Gonchar are both on the list. Combined games: 0. Combined injuries: 2, both in preseason. Why even waste the room on the ballot on them? Second overall Wade Redden is the sexy Ranger offseason acquisition. He hasn't scored a goal since the home opener on October 10 against Chicago. Meanwhile, undrafted Dan Girardi has 2 goals and a very impressive 14 assists. Did Glen Sather lobby to get Redden on the ballot so he could try to convince the rest of the league he didn't give Ferrari money to a Volkswagen?

Danny Briere and his grand total of 8 games make the list, while fellow Flyer Jeff Carter will be watching the Skills Competition from his (probably very well-adorned) living room.

As for the Islanders, I really like that they put Trent Hunter on the ballot. But is Rick DiPietro (0-2-0, 3.91 GAA) really having that good of a year? To be honest, putting Joey MacDonald on it would've been a decent choice.

To cover their collective rears, their is a footnote on the bottom of the page saying "Player must have appeared in 20 games prior to 1/2/09 to qualify," thus negating Whitney, Gonchar, Martin Brodeur, Marion Gaborik, DiPietro, Brian Rolston, and probably Marty Biron from actually being voted in.

Marty Biron? All-around nice guy. Of all the players I have met in my time, him and Scott Gomez (also on the ballot... Aaron Voros and Brandon Dubinsky and Nik Zherdev are not) are the most personable. At 4-5-2 with a 3.33 GAA and an .888 SP, what qualifies him over equally not-good Antero Niittymaki? (By the way, I had no clue I wrote so much about the Flyers until I re-read this post.)

My stunning conclusion is that the other day, I was listening to XM Home Ice 204, and Tim Gleason (Carolina Hurricane's defenseman) was talking to Phil Esposito and they were railing on the All-Star Game. I've heard it all before and normally brushed it off. You know the arguments: It's on Versus. It's on like a Wednesday or a Tuesday.

But now, I see their point. The NHL doesn't seem to care about it, either. I get that you want to showcase stars, so obviously Brodeur is on it, and Alex Ovechkin with his slow start. Personally, I'm surprised to see Alexander Semin on it as well. But there is absolutely no reason to have Redden or Whitney or Gonchar on it when more capable players like Girardi and Mark Streit are left off. They are not going to get nearly enough votes as simply write-ins.

Maybe if they put a real list out, they would have no one like Boy Wonder Luke Schenn, Luca Sbisa, or Braydon Coburn for the Young Stars game.

Hopefully, within a few years, either the NHL starts to take this seriously and does the ballot the week before it goes up, or they make the whole thing a write-in ballot.

Oh well, atleast Mats Sundin isn't on the All-Star ballot this season.