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My NHL All Star Rosters
by PuckStopsHere on 01/07/09 at 12:25 AM ET
Comments (6)
The West Conference All Star Team is announced today (Wednesday) and the East Conference team tomorrow (Thursday). I want to post my teams in advance of the announcements.
First the (assumed) ground rules for the teams. The starters are given by fan balloting. The rosters are 21 men in size (as the last few All Star Games have been) with 12 forwards, 6 defencemen and 3 goalies. Each team must be represented on the rosters - last year this was true of the initial rosters but when injury replacements were made this restriction was loosened.
Given that there are 15 spots left to fill on both rosters (since the starting lineup claims six spots) and both starting lineups come from only two NHL teams (West is from the Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks and East is from the Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins) that leaves 13 teams to be represented out of 15 spots. That leaves only 2 free spots per conference to go to players who are not selected to make sure each team is represented. Thus it is hard to fit all deserving All Stars on the teams. Some players who are having what I consider All Star seasons have to be omitted by the format.
Finally, I chose the most worthy players I could based on their achievements so far this season only. I did not take into account past seasons or predictions of future seasons. Often some veteran players ask not to play in the All Star Game to get a weekend off - I have no way of predicting these players and made no attempt to do so - the NHL roster may take this into account. I did not worry about injury status. A player who is deserving of an All Star spot based on his current achievements who is hurt and will miss the game makes my roster with the assumption he will be replaced closer to the actual game (the NHL may not do this). Thus, this is not a prediction of the NHL rosters. It is a list of the players I think are most worthy given my ground rules.
West Conference
Goaltenders
Niklas Backstrom Minnesota Wild
Jean-Sebastien Giguere Anaheim Ducks (starter)
Steve Mason Columbus Blue Jackets
Defencemen
Brian Campbell Chicago Blackhawks (starter)
Scott Niedermayer Anaheim Ducks (starter)
Kyle Quincey Los Angeles Kings
Brian Rafalski Detroit Red Wings
Sheldon Souray Edmonton Oilers
Shea Weber Nashville Predators
Forwards
Brad Boyes St Louis Blues
Pavel Datsyuk Detroit Red Wings
Shane Doan Phoenix Coyotes
Ryan Getzlaf Anaheim Ducks (starter)
Jarome Iginla Calgary Flames
Patrick Kane Chicago Blackhawks (starter)
Patrick Marleau San Jose Sharks
Brad Richards Dallas Stars
Daniel Sedin Vancouver Canucks
Paul Stastny Colorado Avalanche
Joe Thornton San Jose Sharks
Jonathan Toews Chicago Blackhawks (starter)
East Conference
Goaltenders
Craig Anderson Florida Panthers
Carey Price Montreal Canadiens (starter)
Mike Smith Tampa Bay Lightning
Defencemen
Mike Green Washington Capitals
Tomas Kaberle Toronto Maple Leafs
Mike Komisarek Montreal Canadiens (starter)
Andrei Markov Montreal Canadiens (starter)
Mark Streit New York Islanders
Dennis Wideman Boston Bruins
Forwards
Jeff Carter Philadelphia Flyers
Sidney Crosby Pittsburgh Penguins (starter)
Dany Heatley Ottawa Senators
Ilya Kovalchuk Atlanta Thrashers
Alexei Kovalev Montreal Canadiens (starter)
Evgeni Malkin Pittsburgh Penguins (starter)
Alexander Ovechkin Washington Capitals
Zach Parise New Jersey Devils
Marc Savard Boston Bruins
Eric Staal Carolina Hurricanes
Tomas Vanek Buffalo Sabres
Nikolai Zherdev New York Rangers
Thus the teams with two players added to the roster are top teams in the standings. In the West Conference, they are the Detroit Red Wings (Datsyuk and Rafalski) and the San Jose Sharks (Marleau and Thornton) and in the East Conference they are the Boston Bruins (Savard and Wideman) and the Washington Capitals (Green and Ovechkin). Let’s see if the NHL comes close to my picks. I doubt they will add Paul Stastny to the team since it is clear he cannot play. He had surgery on his right forearm and is likely out until February or March. That said he is Colorado’s top scorer and deserved selection - even if it is an honorary thing since he cannot play in the All Star Game and will need replacement.
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Comments
While Tim Thomas has outplayed Mike Smith so far this season, the problem with giving Thomas a roster spot is that somebody has to make the team from Tampa. Smith has been the best player on Tampa. Were he not to make the team, the most logical Tampa choice would be Martin St Louis. To give St Louis a roster spot, a forward on the team would have to be cut. The likely forward cut is Marc Savard. Savard is the 4th highest scorer in the NHL this season and the difference between him and St Louis is a bigger difference than that between Thomas and Smith.
Posted by PuckStopsHere on 01/07/09 at 11:33 AM ET
Pretty good but I would put chara in over wideman because of overall skill. Also stLouis or lecavlier over zherdev and put lundquist in over smith because if a team only has like 10 wins in a season there goalie really doesn’t deserve to make it. Lidstrom over ralfalski because of overall skill and leadership and also I think it’s a toss up between parise and elias.and WTF is up with Kyle Quincey being there, I don’t know how but kopitar or brown should definatley be the la player. Maybe take out marleau and put kopitar in there and then put Boyle or PHANEUF. And for my last thought I’d say take out the sedin twin put Nash in and take mason out and put luongo in but since luongo might be injured threw the allstar game, then I would definatley put mason(or maybe Nabby or kipper) instead. Also I would say take out anderson but Florida is so crappy that none of their players are even close to worthy Of making it
Posted by steveAVS!!!! from Canada on 01/07/09 at 09:33 PM ET
I’ll admit that I can’t stand the ducks so don’t watch their games but I perplexed about your statement
‘Finally, I chose the most worthy players I could based on their achievements so far this season only’
Why/how does Scott Niedermayer beat out Lidstrom under that condition – unless I’m missing something, a cursory view of Niedermayer’s stats does not look good compared to Lidstrom. This brings up the follow up question that have you watched the Wings much? Rafalski is a good offensive d-man but he makes a sufficient number of gaffs each game such that his marginal point advantage over Lidstrom really does not make up the difference to allow him to win out.
Posted by Paul on 01/09/09 at 12:20 AM ET
How did Niedermayer beat out Lidstrom? The fans voted him onto the All Star Team as a starter. I accepted the starters as voted by the fans. That was one of my ground rules.
As for the Rafalski over Lidstrom pick, I address that here.
Posted by PuckStopsHere on 01/09/09 at 12:53 AM ET
sorry than it was late I totally missed that…
Posted by Paul on 01/09/09 at 09:43 AM ET
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I actually really like your pics, but am surprised… neither of the Boston goaltenders? Given, with the year they are having it is hard to take one without the other, although I definitely think Tim Thomas should get the nod. He’s easily having a better year than Mike Smith, even if you factor in the defense or other support. Of course, this is the problem you run into when Carey Price is picked by the fans as the starter.
Posted by CapsFan on 01/07/09 at 09:30 AM ET