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NHL All-Star Game Roster Selection Controversy

By Santagata JJ

Jan 30, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; General view as fans enter Bridgestone Arena ahead of the 2016 NHL All Star Game Skills Competition. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 30, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; General view as fans enter Bridgestone Arena ahead of the 2016 NHL All Star Game Skills Competition. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /
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2017 NHL All-Star Game Rosters Were Announced Earlier This Week.  A Few of Those Names are Surprising, Sparking Controversy for Those Deserving Individuals Who Were Snubbed.

Last year’s NHL All-Star game shared a mix of emotions among the fans and NHLPA. With this year’s ASG selections released recently, I’m quite positive some of the selections are not sitting well with some of the fans around the league.

All Star games are obviously centered around the best players in the NHL, who stand out during the quarter mark of the season, but it seems this year a few players simply did not deserve an All-Star selection.

Root of the Problem

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    • The way NHL All-Star game voting is conducted may be the root of the problem. Quite honestly I am a supporter of the “fan vote” and letting the fans have their freedom of speech, but only to an extent. The thought of voting for the same players over and over again just does not make much sense.

    Which carries me over to point no.2, since the whole unlimited voting is the system the NHL uses, players like Jonathan Toews have stumbled their way into the All-Star game. Don’t get me wrong, Toews is a great player and an exceptional leader, but this year his numbers (35 games played, 7 goals, 14 assists 21 points) just do not make sense for an All-Star selection.

    Toews is not among the only players that are on the controversy list, another player worth noting is Carolina‘s Justin Faulk.

    Honestly, if All-Star games are going to be the best players in the NHL up until the quarter season mark then I don’t know if Faulk belongs in this game. Up until this point, Faulk only has 7 goals and 10 assists that extremely average for an NHL defensemen and quite sub-par for Justin Faulk.

    The All-Star selection can be argued for hours, days, weeks and months it won’t settle much. To lighten the mood a bit let’s shift the talk to the players that received the short end of the stick this year’s All-Star selection. Well, maybe it does not lighten the mood too much, anyways.

    NHL All-Star Game Snubs

    Players such as Jets F Mark Scheifele most certainly received the short end of the stick here, 37 points in 40 games, tallying 17 goals as well, wake up people! It is a shame a guy like Scheifele doesn’t cross your mind for All-Star consideration, and if you are one to argue that fans want to see players like Toews due to his big name credential in the NHL, then stick to soccer.

    Another player among the list of players who got the short end of the stick is Columbus‘ Cam Atkinson, hey I guess Atkinson doesn’t crack the Hollywood status.

    Next: NHL Mid-Season Awards

    for this year’s NHL All-Star game. It simply doesn’t make sense that a player who is ranked 9th in points doesn’t find his way into the ASG. Blows my mind. Atkinson has 20 goals and 20 assists, 40 points in 40 games. If Atkinson along with Scheifele are not the first on the list for a call up if players drop out and decide not to go, I may lose my mind.

    We all know a few players that were selected are not going to go the All-Star game, so I  hope the NHL doesn’t mess this one up again. I’m not too sure I have much faith though but one can be optimistic I suppose.

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