Our All-Stars

Today, the All-Star teams are named. Figure there to be a few surprises with a new way of selecting the squads for the game in Raleigh. Be that as it may, here's how my Eastern Conference team would look:

EAST

G Tim Thomas, Bruins
G Carey Price, Canadiens
G Ondrej Pavelec, Thrashers

D Dustin Byfuglien, Thrashers
D Tobias Enstrom, Thrashers
D Kris Letang, Penguins
D Zdeno Chara, Bruins
D Erik Karlsson, Senators
D Dan Girardi, Rangers

F Sidney Crosby, Penguins
F Steven Stamkos, Lightning
F Martin St. Louis, Lightning
F Alex Ovechkin, Capitals
F Mike Richards, Flyers
F Eric Staal, Hurricanes
F Claude Giroux, Flyers
F Andrew Ladd, Thrashers
F Alexander Semin, Capitals
F Nicklas Backstrom, Capitals
F Evgeni Malkin, Penguins
F Brandon Dubinsky, Rangers

WEST

G Jonathan Quick, Kings
G Jonas Hiller, Ducks
G Jaroslav Halak, Blues

D Nick Lidstrom, Red Wings
D Brent Burns, Wild
D Niklas Kronwall, Red Wings
D John-Michael Liles, Avalanche
D-Ryan Whitney, Oilers
D-Keith Yandle, Coyotes

F Daniel Sedin, Canucks
F Henrik Sedin, Canucks
F Henrik Zetterberg, Red Wings
F Brad Richards, Stars
F Corey Perry, Ducks
F Anze Kopitar, Kings
F Patrick Sharp, Blackhawks
F Matt Duchene, Avalanche
F Loui Eriksson, Stars
F Jarome Iginla, Flames
F Ryan Getzlaf, Ducks
F Ryane Clowe, Sharks

Sid is just a Kid

All-Star. Hart Trophy. Stanley Cup. Gold Medal Olympic Hero. Golden Boy. Nobody can deny the special talent of Sidney Crosby. At 22 years of age, the Penguin leader has accomplished plenty already, silencing cynics like us that can't stomach him along with co-bloggers Hasan and Brian.

While the ever popular "Crosby Sucks" spreads to every arena outside Mellon Arena who hear no evil see no evil from their hockey God, frustration mounts at what he's allowed to get away with daily. In between all the goals, assists and points, Sid The Kid shows off his bad side getting underneath opponents' skin, which usually involves using his stick illegally. Most would agree that's putting putting it mildly. It doesn't seem to matter who he faces. The league co-leading finisher loves to chop opponents while programmed referees turn their backs. Fans in the metro area who rarely get along can at least agree one this sore subject. Crosby sucks. The missed slashes and repeated hacks that are just as reckless and disrespectful as an Ovechkin shove from behind are ignored.

Nobody will ever accuse Sidney of being a dirty player. However, such antics like he childishly displayed at the conclusion of tonight's nationally televised Versus game in a Cup rematch at Detroit show a different side than the lovey dovey character we get shoved down our throats. While it's true his success benefits the NHL and NBC which most feel stands for Nothing But Crosby, would it kill the powers to be to take a closer look at the wonder boy following another stick incident? His team lost 3-1 to Henrik Zetterberg, who flat out dominated finishing with two goals and an assist while shutting down Sid. It's easy to talk Crosby-Ovie 24/7, but it's this writer's opinion that Zetterberg and Red Wing teammate Pavel Datsyuk are better overall players. This isn't a knock on the super-hyped rivalry. Just an objective take that the guys who wear the Winged Wheel along with ageless wonder Nicklas Lidstrom don't take a back seat.

Apparently, Sid vehemently disagrees. How else to explain the latest cheap shot, repeatedly shoving his stick into a furious Zetterberg as the buzzer sounded at The Joe, signaling the latest big win for a Detroit outfit who refuse to go away. Perhaps their inspired play which saw a heroic Zett backhand rifled past Roberto Luongo with 0.3 left to spare in Vancouver has intimidated San Jose and Chicago, who've eerily lost enough allowing the miracle Coyotes to catch up. As for the Pens' captain, maybe he was just taking out his frustration following a no point, minus-two game against one of the best two-way players we've ever seen. After being stifled by Calder front runner Jimmy Howard seconds earlier, his latest tantrum didn't sit well with the rookie netminder who defended his teammate by challenging Crosby, who typically backed off.

"I knew it was him without turning around,” Zetterberg pointed out while Sid retorted, “I don’t think that’s where he [Howard] should be. “I don’t know what he was doing over there.” The same thing even Henrik Lundqvist did following your continued lack of respect for your peers.

Pittsburgh	roughing - 2 min	20:00, S. Crosby
Detroit	roughing - 2 min	20:00, J. Howard
Detroit	roughing - 2 min	20:00, H. Zetterberg

So, what do you think happened? All ref tandem Tim Peel and Brian Pochmara saw fit to do was handout matching roughs to Zetterberg and the guilty party who got away with crosschecks while also giving Howard two as well. You guessed it. Somehow, the Red Wings wound up with two extra minutes. Even if it was only a matter of book keeping, it summed up the serious double standard that few have the gall to write about. When will Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell finally take action against their guy? Is it going to take one of those unnecessary whacks which finally injures another to penalize the face of the league?

Between you, me and the lamppost, that day probably will never come. In a game that's pushing radical changes to prevent head shots like the one Crosby's teammate Matt Cooke delivered and got away with on poor Marc Savard, they refuse to notice what Sid does after whistles. No discipline. Not even a warning. Makes plenty of sense given how it's run.

If you didn't know any better, you'd swear Bettman and Campbell are the real life version of Lloyd and Harry. Who knew? Dumb & Dumber truly do exist. No wonder their kid runs a muck.

Marty's Accomplishment Disrespected

Another night. Another remarkable accomplishment for New Jersey Devil netminder Martin Brodeur, who turned aside all 22 shots in a 3-0 shutout at snowy Buffalo last night. Finally, MB30 had shutout No.103, tying Terry Sawchuk's once thought unmatchable record which will soon go by the wayside much like Patrick Roy's 551 wins.

That the three-time Stanley Cup winner, Olympic gold medalist and four-time Vezina recipient also recently became the most active goalie in minutes played and also soon enough games played demonstrates just how durable he has been throughout a Hall Of Fame 16-year career. When I think of Marty, one word comes to mind. Consistency. All the consecutive 40+ win seasons prove it along with the fact the ageless 37 year-old is still performing at a high enough level to wonder if Cup No.4 is coming back to the Garden State on what's a very good Devil team. Leave that debate for another day.

As someone who has had to watch the best No.30 provide many headaches, the man is a champion on and off the ice who handles himself the way another great player in the metro area does. No wonder they share so much in common except that the Devil franchise plays in obscurity, even if The Rock in Newark is a great arena. So, what if he doesn't play across the Path on Broadway under the spotlight. This is what has always driven Kool Aid drinkers nuts. For that reason, Brodeur has flown under the radar despite staking his claim as the all-time greatest player to play the most important position in the NHL. If you don't have a good goalie, you'll never win Lord Stanley. Ex. Philadelphia Flyers

We're not here to discuss the difference between playing in The Big Apple and the sister state where Lady Liberty really stands. Something proud New Jerseyans will remind you if you're from NYC. Perhaps it has to do with the face both the Giants and Jets have New York across their uniforms while playing at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford. So, can you blame them?

It shouldn't matter that Brodeur plays under the shadows for the Devils. Fact is they're one of the greatest current sports franchises on par with the Red Wings, Patriots, Steelers, Colts, Spurs and Red Sox. Notice the great company they're in. Only Detroit and San Antonio have won more championships. We left out the Yankees because they're still the best franchise, now having won five World Series since 1996. Of course, it's easy to point out that the Yanks play in the Bronx which ain't exactly paradise even if the brand new Stadium is a crown jewel. If you're a successful franchise, it shouldn't matter where you play. Try telling that to this town where if you make it here, you'll make it anywhere as Frank Sinatra once said.

Would it kill the Daily News or NY Post to give MB30 his proper due instead of the same old same old recycled covers? Guess that's what happens when you play for New Jersey. It just doesn't have the same sex appeal. In the newspaper business, they're trying to sell papers. So, it's always going to be something over the top and usually from this city. That is unless there's a bunch of fluff like Tiger Woods' marriage on rocks due to incompetence. Does anyone really care about his personal life? But hey. It sells. So, we'll excuse the tabloids for eating it up.

What can't be ignored is how poorly this sport is treated by ESPN. At one time, they aired games for x amount of years, including a couple we provided stats research for the talent. When I worked there, all the employees involved in making it a great production put everything and more into it. Considering all the money they invested in hockey, it made plenty of sense. One thing about Bristol, Connecticut. If they cover your sport, expect them to give a yeoman effort. Even if it's resulted in butchering Monday Night Football. The best thing I've seen since 2002 was the 30 In 30 features, including The Trade of Wayne Gretzky, which was excellently produced. That's ESPN at its best. If you want it at its worst, watch Sports Center. A show that once was great as a kid now has zero imagination, even ticking off their own researchers that put in hard hours for ridiculous storylines that have little to do with sports.

That's what we're dealing with since Disney took over. If they cover your sport, you'll usually get great highlights and over analysis. See last night where Aaron Rodgers was treated like a Super Bowl winning quarterback. SC was basically football, football, FOOTBALL with a little AI, then more football, football, FOOTBALL. Sadly, the real King Of The Night- who deserved a lot more than the 11+ percent if most sportsfans weren't so brainwashed- was reduced to a small blurb showing 2 miniscule highlights of his 103rd career shutout that tied a significant record. Then, they went back to more football. If you caught our last post on the other server early this morning on our birthday, then you already know.

Since hockey is hardly covered anymore after Bristol passed on re-upping due to the lockout with it instead winding up on Versus, where DirecTV subscribers got royally screwed and couldn't catch one second of MB30's shining moment, it comes as no surprise that such a special night got lost in the ESPN shuffle. Sadly, it's worse than Phil's recurring events in Groundhog Day. Even the Rangers aren't this bad yet. Somehow, Barry Melrose and Matt Barnaby cash checks for zilch. John Buccigross, who's one of the best hockey people in The States, remains employed working SC. He wrote a damn good column over a week ago on Brian Burke's openly gay son Brendan. How unfortunate that we don't benefit from Bucci's enthusiasm for the sport.

Earlier this year, I pondered if a return to ESPN would be beneficial to the game. Sure. It would be more available to viewers and promoted better than what we get on Versus along with NBC, who has the NHL by the balls. But when I see how little it's covered along with the ultimate disrespect to a super special athlete who's much more likable than most of the pampered they push, it would be an exercise in futility. They don't deserve Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Nicklas Lidstrom, Evgeni Malkin, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Nicklas Backstrom, Zach Parise, John Tavares and Matt Duchene. Clearly, there's more talent on display than ever before.

We don't deserve to be treated like second class citizens. So, while they can continue showcasing the overrated and image conscientious LeBron, I'll take our gifted batch anyday with Mr. Brodeur the head of the class. Everything a real superstar should be. One of the best to ever play the game and a truly magnificent athlete. Even Derek Jeter and Peyton Manning would agree.

All-Star starters announced, Brodeur gets nod in goal for East

Earlier today, the league announced the starters for the upcoming All-Star Game.

Here's who that elite list of stars will include:

2008 Eastern Conference All-Star Team Starting Lineup

Goal: Martin Brodeur, New Jersey

Defense: Andrei Markov, Montreal
Defense: Zdeno Chara, Boston

Forward: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh
Forward: Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay
Forward: Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa

2008 Western Conference All-Star Team Starting Lineup

Goal: Roberto Luongo, Vancouver

Defense: Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit
Defense: Dion Phaneuf, Calgary

Forward: Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit
Forward: Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit
Forward: Jarome Iginla, Calgary


From the look of things, two quick notes:

1.No Ilya Kovalchuk for the stacked East
2.The Western lineup with the exception of goaltender is made up of all Red Wings and Flames.


We'll have much more later on.

Flames snap Ranger three-game win streak

The Rangers had been feeling good about themselves after finishing 2007 with a hard fought 4-3 overtime win last Sunday on home ice.

But they couldn't keep it going in the first of a challenging three-game Western Canada road swing- falling to Mike Keenan's Flames 4-3 last night at The Saddledome.

They never led as Hart candidate Jarome Iginla scored twice including a third period tally off a turnover and inept defensive coverage by every Ranger on the ice to restore a two-goal lead.

In perhaps his best game of the season, rookie pivot Brandon Dubinsky was rewarded for some hard work when he completed a give-and-go with Sean Avery to cut the deficit to 3-2 with six and change left.

But a really odd play broke the Rangers' backs. Off a faceoff, Martin Straka broke free from two Flames and was nearly in on Miikka Kiprusoff but lost control before trying a back pass to Michal Rozsival which didn't work as the defenseman who struggled all night wasn't set.

Instead, a hustling Kristian Huselius went the other way off the costly turnover and fooled Henrik Lundqvist with a tricky shot from an extreme angle down near the left boards.

The 25 year-old netminder was apparently expecting a centering pass and caught napping as he wasn't all the way against the post which allowed the puck to go in.

Just brutal. Totally inexcusable for Lundqvist who's been less than stellar for about a month now. Maybe it's the thoughts of a long-term extension which could be happening any day now.

The latest bad goal really hurt because leading finisher Brendan Shanahan tallied with 14 seconds to go. But it would be too little too late as Jaromir Jagr couldn't get a shot off as time expired.

This was a frustrating defeat because Kiprusoff (29 saves- many timely) totally outplayed Lundqvist. Given some of the quality chances the Rangers generated for the final 22-23 minutes, they easily could've been in overtime with at least a valuable point with another up for grabs.

Kiprusoff was that good IMO. He really was sharp and played like the former Vezina winner he is which bodes well for the Flames, who are 8-1-1 in their last 10 and really playing better hockey.

The other frustrating aspect of this loss was that once again, the Blueshirts came away without a win against a Western Conference opponent. I think that's now 0-5-1 against the West.

That's why they continue to trail the first place Devils (now up by three) who had a nice home win (3-2) over the Panthers where their franchise goalie Martin Brodeur shined in making 31 saves to allow Brian Gionta's five-on-three power play tally to hold up.

Eventually, the Rangers need to break through and it's not going to be any easier tonight at Vancouver against Roberto Luongo.


One other note from last night's action: Ilya Kovalchuk scored his league-leading 33rd and assisted on three other Atlanta goals including a Marian Hossa winner during a 5-4 OT win at Carolina.

Kovalchuk has been amazing this season. At the halfway mark, the exciting Russian sniper has 33 goals and 24 helpers for 57 points.

If he gets them into the postseason, he should win the Hart.


If you missed the highlights, be sure to go to yahoo and check out his awesome end-to-end PPG.


Also, John Buccigross appeared on our New York Hockey Report show last night. I'll link up the archive a little later. Fyi...actually, the link for the podcast appears at the top corner of the left part of our page. So you can just click on the NYHR link with our cool logo!

Many topics were covered including the very successful outdoor Winter Classic which drew the best network TV rating since Wayne Gretzky's final game. Plus plenty of league stuff as we talked about surprises and the seasons of Kovalchuk and the ageless Nicklas Lidstrom.


Be sure to tune in for our next show. It's usually every Wednesday between 9 and 10 over at blogtalk radio.


I need to get going now. See ya'll later.