2011 All star roster.

[bandits_5 18]

Numbers below the crest is what I am hearing.

saw one on blackberry all access and the number was above the crest . About the size of a fist. Its not the best looking thing , but not awfull.....just bleh....

[RadioGaGa 162]

Don't forget that the league wants at least one player from every team playing in the game. That means some deserving people are going to miss out.

I know he doesn't have the highest points totals, and he's pissed off some people already, but if the Rooks are there to compete in the Skills Comp I thought for sure that PK Subban would be named. He's got sick hands, his skating is amazing and he's got a better than average shot. There are at least 4-5 competitions that would be perfect for him to show off in (where it is allowed and encouraged).

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

saw one on blackberry all access and the number was above the crest . About the size of a fist. Its not the best looking thing , but not awfull.....just bleh....

Ugh, yeah, sorry, above the crest, under the neckline.

[wrangler 157]

Is Mike Green really good enough on defense to be considered for the Norris? It's the ASG, Byfuglien has a lot of points, who cares?

I don't know about Green or Buff on D, rarely see either, that's why I asked.

I care. I'm old school, like to see players rated as a package, for the whole skill set necessary for their positions. Same thing for the Norris. I gather I'm in the minority.

[Hradsky 1]

Backes? Kesler? on offense... this is supposed to showcase the game, how are grinders supposed to show off their scoring ability? Why not Zetterberg or Backstrom or Havlat or Paul Stastny? and on D Erik Karlsson? Marc Staal? Where's Drew Doughty? Good enough for team canada, but not the all star game? Where's Jack Johnson or John- Michael Liles? The list goes on and on...

Well he's on pace for like 45 goals this season so...LOL

[IniNew 51]

Another observation: 5 Eastern Conference goalies, only one Western conference.

Out of all the players selected, I believe the goalies to be the most accurate list of deserving players on there. Everyone of those goalies (save Fluery... who just plays for the pens...) has kept their teams in games for a long stretch. Price, Thomas, and Hiller especially were the only reason their teams have won several games.

[bandits_5 18]

http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=66980

Allow me to be the first to bitch. Henrik Zetterberg, 7th in the league in points, is not worthy to be an all-star?

Shannahan released a statement sayin that a few GM's had contacted the league on a players behalf , asking to be left off the roster due to being dinged up a bit. Zetteberg was the first guy that came to mind. Maybe he's got something small, or with Datsuyk already out , the Wings just "convinced" him it would be in the teams best intrest for him to sit this one out?????

Out of all the players selected, I believe the goalies to be the most accurate list of deserving players on there. Everyone of those goalies (save Fluery... who just plays for the pens...) has kept their teams in games for a long stretch. Price, Thomas, and Hiller especially were the only reason their teams have won several games.

since Fleurys god awful start ( 1st 8 games ) hes led or been in the top 3 in GAA and save%. And if you take away his play , the pens are not in the top 8 in the east. Yea , Crosby is playin great , but one guy scoring cant win games. One goalie standing on his head , night in and night out , can win games. w/o Fleury , the Pens are "afloat" at best. Fleury deserves to be there!

[steelnation248 101]

http://vimeo.com/18417843

They play this commercial constantly on the NHL Network so I think it's kind of funny that they have Luongo in it but he wasn't even selected to play.

[chippa13 1844]

Kessel, Hemsky, why are these guys in the all-star game? It's nice to see Hemsky made it to the half-way point of the season for once. Love the fact Tobias Enstrom was picked. Truly one of the most underated/not talked about offensive dman in the game today.

Kessel is a fast, young scoring winger. Exactly the kind of player that the league wants to showcase. It doesn't hurt that he had 36 and 30 goals the last 2 seasons and is on pace to top those this year.

[wrangler 157]

Why doesn't the NHL make selections, to give players the recognition, and then pick replacements for guys who want time off for health reasons? I've seen other sports do it.

[shotty 7]

http://vimeo.com/18417843

They play this commercial constantly on the NHL Network so I think it's kind of funny that they have Luongo in it but he wasn't even selected to play.

my bet is that he was probably one of the players who asked to be dismissed from participation.

[watchgreat 4]

my bet is that he was probably one of the players who asked to be dismissed from participation.

Yea must be cause he is just great.

[steelnation248 101]

Yea must be cause he is just great.

That must be the reason...

Yeah, it could be that he was asked to step down to make run for players from other teams who didn't already have players attending the game. He didn't seem to be bummed that he isn't playing though. Yahoo said he liked that he had time to spend with his family. I also heard for players like Zetterberg, because the Wings have all the recent injuries, he might have just been asked to get sit out, some rest and not risk getting injured. I don't know if this is true or not.

[NextBobbyOrr 0]

That must be the reason...

Yeah, it could be that he was asked to step down to make run for players from other teams who didn't already have players attending the game. He didn't seem to be bummed that he isn't playing though. Yahoo said he liked that he had time to spend with his family. I also heard for players like Zetterberg, because the Wings have all the recent injuries, he might have just been asked to get sit out, some rest and not risk getting injured. I don't know if this is true or not.

Makes plenty of sense to me. Family is clearly an important thing to him, and he just had the birth of a second child, so maybe a no to the all-star game was simply necessary.

[bandits_5 18]

Why doesn't the NHL make selections, to give players the recognition, and then pick replacements for guys who want time off for health reasons? I've seen other sports do it.

exactly. even baseball does it that way and its almost impossible to be injured as a baseball player. haha JK

[IniNew 51]

There's a good chance they do that and just don't release the selections until the final roster is ready. Not too mention, given hockey's nature, they probably want to do their best to keep injuries out of the public eye. Hence terms like "lower body injury".

[ibeck 38]

Kessel is a fast, young scoring winger. Exactly the kind of player that the league wants to showcase. It doesn't hurt that he had 36 and 30 goals the last 2 seasons and is on pace to top those this year.

At the end of the day if you hear about an exciting player, whether ot not you love the game or not, you are going to try and watch a game or youtube that player. My point is that the league and the player has 82 regular season games to sell itself. I really dont enjoy watching basketball but Ive gone and looked up Blake Griffin dunks , Im not going to wait for the all star game or dunk competition to see him.

[chippa13 1844]

I'm just telling you why a guy like Kessel is going to the all-star game. Not really sure what you're trying to argue with me about.

[Fire0nIce228 1]

I kinda like the blue jersey. Hemsky being there is a joke.

As a Pens fan, I'm not sure about Malkin being there.. While hes having a good year, he's nowhere near the realm he was in in 2008-2009. Plus, he's battled some injury issues all of last season and for parts of this season.. It makes me wonder.

There is 'snubs' every season but I really think Briere should have made it.

At any rate, is anyone going? I'll be there for the weekend. First time at an all star event, should be cool.

[Hermans 9]

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=549108&navid=DL%7CNHL%7Chome

dark one is something you can forget about after a while... the light one is horrible.

[stock07 1]

On a side note, I just got tickets to the skills event sat. Night. Anyone else going?

[ibeck 38]

I'm just telling you why a guy like Kessel is going to the all-star game. Not really sure what you're trying to argue with me about.

Re-reading my post I dont know what I was trying to argue haha. I guess I was just taking out some frustration on tge stupid selection process.

[steelnation248 101]

Iginla is out, Briere is in: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=ap-all-star-iginlawithdraws

[goaliemanshark 6]

Hemsky will most likely be out. Who replaces him?

Also Luongo has been blacked out in that commercial discussed earlier. Though it was pretty funny.

[wrangler 157]

Kane and St. Louis will be alternates for captain Nicklas Lidstrom, while Kesler and Green will join captain Eric Staal.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=550217