Inside The Penalty Box 01.22.08: The 56th NHL All Star Game

Posted by Neil Borenstein on 01.22.2008

The NHL is taking a break from its normal schedule this weekend for the 56th edition of the All Star Game! Set in the Philips Arena of Atlanta this year, some of the best from all 30 teams will suit up in this weekend’s exhibition. In this edition of Inside The Penalty Box, Neil Borenstein takes a look at the rosters and predicts a winner for this weekend’s matchup!

ll 30 National Hockey League teams are taking a brief break from their schedules this weekend for the 56th edition of the NHL All Star Game. Each club will have representation for the All Star festivities, which starts on Saturday with the Youngstars Game and SuperSkills competition and concludes on Sunday with the All Star Game itself. This year's All Star weekend is being held at the Philips Arena, home to the Atlanta Thrashers.

Of course, the most important part of the All Star extravaganza is what players will be suiting up. The following are the lineups for both the Eastern Conference and Western Conference (with some comments and gripes, of course):

(* - starter, x - won't play due to injury or personal reasons, y – replacement player)

Eastern Conference

Goalies
* Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
Rick DiPietro, New York Islanders
Tomas Vokoun, Florida Panthers

Forwards
*x Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
* Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning (captain)
* Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa Senators
Scott Gomez, New York Rangers
x Dany Healtey, Ottawa Senators
Marian Hossa, Atlanta Thrashers
Ilya Kovalchuk, Atlanta Thrashers
Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Mike Richards, Philadelphia Flyers
Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning
Jason Spezza, Ottawa Senators
Eric Staal, Carolina Hurricanes
y Marc Savard, Boston Bruins

Defensemen
* Andrei Markov, Montreal Canadiens
* Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins
Brian Campbell, Buffalo Sabres
Sergei Gonchar, Pittsburgh Penguins
Tomas Kaberle, Toronto Maple Leafs
Kimmo Timonen, Philadelphia Flyers

Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports/Getty ImagesMartin Brodeur will be making his 10th All Star Game appearance on Sunday.

As far as the goaltenders are concerned, Martin Brodeur being voted as the starter was pretty much expected. Though he started the season out on a bit of a sour note, certainly un-Brodeur-like, he has managed to lead the New Jersey Devils into what is now a three way tie atop the Atlantic Division with 57 points. At this point, an All Star Game without Brodeur would have to happen because he chose not to show up. Tomas Vokoun and Rick DiPietro, however, I cannot understand being selected to the team over other netminders. Joining Brodeur in between the pipes in the East should be Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins and Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers. Lundqvist is one of only seven goaltenders in the entire NHL to score 20 wins this season. He's also tied for second place on the shutout list with Vancouver's Roberto Luongo with six, behind only Pascal LeClaire of the Columbus Blue Jackets, and ranks 11th with a 2.38 goals against average. Thomas is still unfortunately one of the most underrated goalies in the league, and he was overlooked for this year's All Star squad. Even though he did miss some time this year due to injury, his performances in the 31 games he did play were enough to judge his worthiness. He is first in the entire league with a .930 save percentage, eighth in goals against average at 2.30 and he has 15 wins. I'd be willing to listen to the argument that maybe Cristobal Huet of the Montreal Canadiens should get some recognition, as well. But to pick DiPietro and Vokoun over any combination of those three is a mistake. DiPietro may only have one less win than Lundqvist, but his goals against average is quite a bit higher and he only has two shutouts. Vokoun may also have 19 wins, but he's the only 20-game loser in the league. His 2.78 goals against average also leaves a bit to be desired. I'm not saying DiPietro and Vokoun aren't playing well for their respective NHL squads. But to earn spots over Lundqvist, Thomas and Huet for All Star spots just doesn't sit well.

On the forward end of things, things pretty much turned out as they should. Perhaps Evgeni Malkin and Mats Sundin should have earned a spot on the roster. An argument can also be made for Montreal's Alexei Kovalev. With Sidney Crosby's injury keeping him out of the game, the door is open for one of those three to suit up for the East in Atlanta. But for the most part, the players that deserved to be there are. Scott Gomez has received some question marks, but he's been the best Rangers forward for months. And since the Rangers did not grab a representative in the goaltending department with Lundqvist, they needed a player somewhere else. Even on his own merits, though, Gomez has played well enough to garner attention as an All Star.

My only gripe with the defensive selections is that instead of Kimmo Timonen being named to the Eastern Conference squad, Mike Green of the Washington Capitals, the Rangers' Michael Rozsival or Wade Redden out of Ottawa should have been granted the honor. Now, he is the only Flyer on the team, so it may just be the NHL's way of getting someone from Philadelphia to Atlanta. And from that sense, in accordance with the issue many have with Gomez, perhaps I can't argue too much. However, would putting Daniel Briere in the forward class for this roster have been a terrible idea? Green is a surprise this season with 14 goals and 16 assists for 30 points in 47 games played. He has posted 12 points on the power play. His minus-2 rating is three points lower than Timonen's, but the Capitals also aren't as good as the Flyers. Green is the top guy that really should have received this spot. Rozsival would probably be next in the pecking order. Boasting eleven goals and two with a man down is pretty impressive for a blue liner. He also has one more point than Timonen. For Redden, he may have fewer points than Green (though he's even with Rozsival), but a plus-15 rating might give him a bit of an edge. All three of these players should have received attention over Timonen.

(* - starter, x - won't play due to injury or personal reasons, y – replacement player)
Western Conference

Goalies
*x Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks
Manny Legace, St. Louis Blues
Chris Osgood, Detroit Red Wings
Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose Sharks

Forwards
x Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings
x Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
x Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames
Jason Arnott, Nashville Predators
Marian Gaborik, Minnesota Wild
Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks
Shawn Horcoff, Edmonton Oilers
Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings
Rick Nash, Columbus Blue Jackets
Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
x Paul Stastny, Colorado Avalanche
Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks

Defensemen
* Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings
* Dion Phaneuf, Calgary Flames
Ed Jovanovski, Phoenix Coyotes
Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks
Chris Pronger, Anaheim Ducks
Sergei Zubov, Dallas Stars

Though Roberto Luongo is missing the All Star Game to spend time with his pregnant wife (what a sorry excuse), the Western Conference still touts three immensely talented netminders that were the right selections for this year's contest. Nabokov has only missed one of the Sharks' 47 games played this season, and he has 25 wins on the season to show for his troubles. On top of that, a 2.19 goals against average, .911 save percentage and five shutouts is downright phenomenal for a man who has played damn near every single game for his team thus far this season. Osgood and Legace are two of the best veteran goalies in the NHL, and it's showing this season. Osgood is outperforming Dominik Hasek on the current NHL point-leading Detroit Red Wings with 19 wins and only five losses (three in regulation) in 25 games. He also leads the league with a 1.95 goals against average and ranks fifth in save percentage (.922.) Osgood is one of the most underrated goalies in the NHL, still. But he got his proper recognition in this All Star selection. As far as Legace is concerned, 17 wins in 34 starts with a 2.15 goals against average, .918 save percentage and three shutouts is very solid stuff. Pascal LeClaire and Ilya Bryzgalov would have also been worthy of consideration. But I think the goalies that were picked were the right ones.

Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports/Getty ImagesHenrik Zetterberg will be the starting left wing for the Western Conference thanks to fan voting.

The starting forwards for the West were well selected by the fans. Jarome Iginla is having a tremendous season, leading the conference in points (63) and goals (32.) Henrik Zetterberg is second out West in points (61) and goals (28.) Pavel Datsyuk has kicked in 39 assists, which ranks second in the conference. Perhaps Joe Thornton could have taken the lead at center because he leads the conference in assists and has the same amount of points as Datsyuk. But with Thornton on the team anyway, it's really irrelevant. There were some players left off the roster that probably deserve to be in Atlanta. Mike Ribeiro from Dallas is having a career season with 53 points (22 goals, 31 assists) in 48 games. Daniel Sedin's 22 goals and 24 assists makes me wonder why he wasn't selected over his brother, who has 15 more assists but 13 less goals. Perhaps even Kristian Huselius of the Flames could have received some recognition for scoring 21 goals and collecting 49 points overall. Thanks to Paul Stastny's injury, there is still one spot left unclaimed. One of those players just mentioned should be able to grab that spot. And my money's on Ribeiro.

On defense, Nicklas Lidstrom is an absolute no-brainer, while Dion Phaneuf, Ed Jovanovski, Chris Pronger and Sergei Zubov have all proven they're worthy of their spots as high-ranking defensemen this season out West. But how in the blue hell Duncan Keith made this team over Brian Rafalski is beyond me. I mean, it's difficult to pick another Blackhawk to toss in the All Star Game since the league probably didn't want Patrick Kane or Jonathan Toews in it. But still, Keith has 17 points and a plus-16 rating compared to Rafalski's 41 points and a plus-14 rating. I'll take the two-point plus/minus hit for 24 extra points! There had to be a better way to get someone from Chicago into this game rather than screwing over Rafalski, who ranks second in the league in points by a defenseman.

The Game

Considering the players that are already known (minus one from each conference as a result of un-substituted injuries), this should stack up to be a pretty good game. On both teams, there is a very solid mix of playmakers and goal-scoring threats that should spread across the four lines. Out in the East, Gomez, Richards, Spezza and Savard are going to have a field day passing the puck to the likes of Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, St. Louis and Hossa. And mind you, out of those eight players, I didn't even mention anyone on the starting line. In the West, it's really the same thing. Playmakers like Thornton, Datsyuk, Getzlaf and Sedin are going to be passing the puck with ease to Iginla, Zetterberg, Nash and Gaborik. I like the Eastern Conference in the offensive matchup because I think their finishers are a lot more threatening. Ovechkin and Kovalchuk are probably the two best goal-scorers in the NHL. If Savard and Spezza are the two getting them the puck – watch out! I don't think the West quite stacks up to combinations like that.

On defense, I really like the Western Conference more. First off, the team with Lidstrom already has the advantage. Add Pronger, and you're just getting ridiculous. But the Western Conference has a much more defensively-sound group of guys to throw out on the ice than the Eastern Conference does. Chara and Campbell are good in their own zone, but pretty much everybody on the Western squad is solid there. And that doesn't mean the Western Conference lacks offense. Four of the top five leading-scoring defensemen in the NHL are playing in this game. Three of them are in the Western Conference (Lidstrom, Pronger, Zubov.)

In net, the advantage goes to the Western Conference on the all-around scale. From the first period to the third, the Western Conference is going to be very comfortable with their options. In the Eastern Conference, Martin Brodeur might be the best one out there. But his two counterparts could very well fall apart after he heads to the bench. From that, the West might have trouble in the first period, but the second and third could be a breeze for scoring some goals. In the Eastern Conference, no period is going to be easy.

I think the Western Conference is going to take this game. It can't really be a defensive battle since these games are always high-scoring, and rightfully so. But the West has enough weapons on offense to compliment their better defensive play. And when all else fails, the Western Conference's netminders are just flat-out better for the full 60 minutes than the East's.

Final Score: 13-7, Western Conference

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Brian Leetch Night



For those who are unaware by now, the New York Rangers will be retiring Brian Leetch's No. 2 this Thursday when the Rangers host the Atlanta Thrashers. Leetch definitely deserves this honor, as he is not only the best defenseman in Rangers history, but he's the athlete many American hockey players looked up to when they were growing up. He's a treasure to his NHL team and his country's national team. He was a true threat on the offensive front who was also a smart player in his defensive end. And despite the fact that he was dealt to the Maple Leafs and spent one season in Boston, he will always be a New York Ranger – and only a New York Ranger.

Hopefully the Rangers will give strong consideration to raising No. 9 to the rafters in honor of Adam Graves soon after honoring Leetch. While I'll admit Mark Messier, Mike Richter and Leetch are probably viewed higher on the totem pole of important contributors to that 1994 Stanley Cup Championship, Graves had just as much to do with it. And he contributed a lot to the Rangers beyond that Cup, including in the community, which he still does today. It just won't be right if New York doesn't do for Graves what it did for Messier and Richter, and what it will do for Leetch on Thursday.

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Until next week, you have just been Inside The Penalty Box!

~ Neil Borenstein