Pens Still Leading All Star Charge......Getting Ready for Florida...
The latest Eastern All Star Ballot check shows that Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are still holding on to the top two spots under forwards. Marc Andre Fleury has fallen to second place behind Buffalo netminder Ryan Miller. Here is the top 10 for each position...
Player NHL Club Votes
Sidney Crosby Pittsburgh 401,365
Evgeni Malkin Pittsburgh 217,146
Daniel Briere Buffalo 214,295
Alex Ovechkin Washington 203,138
Maxim Afinogenov Buffalo 200,776
Chris Drury Buffalo 156,788
Jaromir Jagr NY Rangers 151,576
Erik Cole Carolina 141,551
Ilya Kovalchuk Atlanta 97,011
*Thomas Vanek Buffalo 92,103
Defensemen
Bryan McCabe Toronto 245,976
Brian Campbell Buffalo 242,852
Zdeno Chara Boston 205,981
Jay Bouwmeester Florida 203,581
Henrik Tallinder Buffalo 202,637
Tomas Kaberle Toronto 194,850
Sheldon Souray Montreal 190,516
Wade Redden Ottawa 116,108
Brian Rafalski New Jersey 96,009
Dan Boyle Tampa Bay 78,211
Goaltenders
Ryan Miller Buffalo 253,024
Marc-Andre Fleury Pittsburgh 208,492
Martin Brodeur New Jersey 185,679
Cam Ward Carolina 57,826
Andrew Raycroft Toronto 57,677
Kari Lehtonen Atlanta 57,482
Henrik Lundqvist NY Rangers 52,035
*Cristobal Huet Montreal 51,363
****
Game Notes:
Ryan Malone will make his return to the line-up. He will play on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Nils Ekman. This will be a very good opportunity for him to show that he can be a top 6 winger. He has not lived up to expectations in this role in the past. He will be working through some rust, but hopefully the line will mesh. This is also an opportunity for Nils Ekman, who has been playing a greatly diminished role than when the season started.
Micki Dupont, who was recalled yesterday, will not dress tonight. I imagine that Therrien is giving his existing defensive core a one last chance, though Alain Nasreddine will suit up this evening.
There has been no word on John Leclair. I have to imagine that the only reason he went unclaimed through re-entry waivers is that some team who may have wanted his services didn't want to pick up the additional salary without losing some of what they already had on the books. One of three things is going to happen: 1. Leclair retires 2. He sits on the bench and plays periodically 3. A minor trade is made to offset the incoming 690,000(pro-rated) salary and the Pens pick up a player that can fill in on 4th line or in the AHL.
I do not agree with sitting Jordan Staal if he is healthy. I would much rather he had sat out a game when he was fighting off the flu last week. He needs to be used nightly to develop, and if team management thinks his performance has flat-lined, they should send him back to Peterborough. I personally would like them to let him play in the World Junior Championships. He has not been filling a huge role over the last 10 games and it would give him a chance to play on a national stage. He would probably be used in all situations for Canada and a medal has never hurt anyone's confidence.
As I mentioned yesterday, Thibault will start tonight.
More after the game....
Player NHL Club Votes
Sidney Crosby Pittsburgh 401,365
Evgeni Malkin Pittsburgh 217,146
Daniel Briere Buffalo 214,295
Alex Ovechkin Washington 203,138
Maxim Afinogenov Buffalo 200,776
Chris Drury Buffalo 156,788
Jaromir Jagr NY Rangers 151,576
Erik Cole Carolina 141,551
Ilya Kovalchuk Atlanta 97,011
*Thomas Vanek Buffalo 92,103
Defensemen
Bryan McCabe Toronto 245,976
Brian Campbell Buffalo 242,852
Zdeno Chara Boston 205,981
Jay Bouwmeester Florida 203,581
Henrik Tallinder Buffalo 202,637
Tomas Kaberle Toronto 194,850
Sheldon Souray Montreal 190,516
Wade Redden Ottawa 116,108
Brian Rafalski New Jersey 96,009
Dan Boyle Tampa Bay 78,211
Goaltenders
Ryan Miller Buffalo 253,024
Marc-Andre Fleury Pittsburgh 208,492
Martin Brodeur New Jersey 185,679
Cam Ward Carolina 57,826
Andrew Raycroft Toronto 57,677
Kari Lehtonen Atlanta 57,482
Henrik Lundqvist NY Rangers 52,035
*Cristobal Huet Montreal 51,363
****
Game Notes:
Ryan Malone will make his return to the line-up. He will play on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Nils Ekman. This will be a very good opportunity for him to show that he can be a top 6 winger. He has not lived up to expectations in this role in the past. He will be working through some rust, but hopefully the line will mesh. This is also an opportunity for Nils Ekman, who has been playing a greatly diminished role than when the season started.
Micki Dupont, who was recalled yesterday, will not dress tonight. I imagine that Therrien is giving his existing defensive core a one last chance, though Alain Nasreddine will suit up this evening.
There has been no word on John Leclair. I have to imagine that the only reason he went unclaimed through re-entry waivers is that some team who may have wanted his services didn't want to pick up the additional salary without losing some of what they already had on the books. One of three things is going to happen: 1. Leclair retires 2. He sits on the bench and plays periodically 3. A minor trade is made to offset the incoming 690,000(pro-rated) salary and the Pens pick up a player that can fill in on 4th line or in the AHL.
I do not agree with sitting Jordan Staal if he is healthy. I would much rather he had sat out a game when he was fighting off the flu last week. He needs to be used nightly to develop, and if team management thinks his performance has flat-lined, they should send him back to Peterborough. I personally would like them to let him play in the World Junior Championships. He has not been filling a huge role over the last 10 games and it would give him a chance to play on a national stage. He would probably be used in all situations for Canada and a medal has never hurt anyone's confidence.
As I mentioned yesterday, Thibault will start tonight.
More after the game....
posted by Bmetzer66 at 4:54 PM
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