Staal honored to be All-Star selection
SUNRISE, Fla. — Eric Staal will be the Carolina Hurricanes' lone representative at the NHL All-Star Game in Montreal this year. Not that he wants to be.
There are others, he said, who are deserving. Veteran Ray Whitney, for example, is the team's leading scorer. Goalie Cam Ward has been at his best in recent weeks, Staal noted.
But Staal, who was named today to the Eastern Conference All-Star roster, will be the one.
"It's an honor. Any time you get named with those types of players it's a good feeling," Staal said today. "Especially coming out of this locker room, there's some good players on this team, as well. It should be fun and hopefully I can represent our team well.
"There's definitely some guys who have some great seasons — Ray Whitney, Cam Ward. Those are two guys right there who possibly were close to getting in. I think for Cam, he's going to have a lot of years ahead of him. I'm sure before any time soon he'll be in the mix, for sure."
A year ago in Atlanta, Staal was named the All-Star Game MVP — the first in franchise history to receive the award — after scoring two goals and adding an assist in the Eastern Conference's 8-7 win. That could be tough to top. And the players not chosen do get a few extra days to rest, relax and heal their bodies.
But Staal, making his third straight All-Star appearance, said he's excited about playing the Jan. 25 game in Montreal.
"It's still a neat experience," Staal said. "It's still an honor to get selected in this league.
"To be a part of that whole experience, especially in Montreal, where they're celebrating the 100th anniversary and all that, they'll put on a pretty good show. I'll just try to enjoy myself, get the rest that I can and try to represent the Carolina Hurricanes well."
Chip Alexander
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is in his second season as the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at chip.alexander@newsobserver.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @ice_chip.
Comments
Major League Baseball
Thu, 01/08/2009 - 16:17 — atrioneMajor League Baseball manages to let the fans vote on All-Star starters without problems like this. They have a limit on the number of votes per IP address or something similar. The NHL should enact the same safeguards to prevent this sort of debacle again.
A case can be made that Andrei Markov deserved his spot. Had he not been selected a starter, he could very well have made the team anyway. However Kovalev, Komisarek and Price would only have gotten into the Bell Centre with a ticket.
Staal should get used to going to the ASG. As long as he's not embarrassing himself on the ice, he's as close to automatic as you can get. They don't put schlubs on the cover of a video game.
Roster observations
Thu, 01/08/2009 - 15:10 — JRs_FaultI agree on the need to come up with a better system. 4 teams are represented across all of the starters from both conferences, and none of those are the 4 teams (Bos/SJ/Det/Was) that have separated from the rest of the league thus far.
I'd prefer to see the starters come from a survey of Players/Coaches/GM's, or at least use those results averaged in with a fan vote.
But it's an exhibition game... so not that big of a deal.
All in all, the reserves as a whole aren't too far off, given the need for someone from every team. If you took that away, there probably would not be a Cane on the team (nor would folks like Modano, Kovalchuck, and Luongo) based on 2008 performance.
My issue
Thu, 01/08/2009 - 16:16 — Canes73is with the starters only. I have no problem with having a representative from each team. I just don't like seeing a roster spot taken away from a deserving player. If I was Mike Komisarek or Alexei Kovalev, I would be embarrassed to show up for the game knowing that there is a player with much better statistics sitting at home.
All-Star Voting a Joke
Thu, 01/08/2009 - 14:28 — Canes73Changes have to be made to the selection process of the starters. Four of the six starters are Montreal Canadien players...what a joke!!! Call me crazy but I think the best players should get the starting honors. I'm tired of these ballet stuffing schemes to vote in home town heroes and dim-witted write-in campaigns (remember Rory Fitzpatrick from a couple of years ago - came very close to being voted an all-star).
I can't believe players like Ovechkin, Vanek, and Carter (each with 27 goals) have to take a back-seat to the likes of Kovalev (10 goals). And how about Komisarek (23 gms, 3 pts, +1) as a starting all-star defensman...come on this is embarrassing.
Montreal
Thu, 01/08/2009 - 15:48 — esteban1949I would agree that some changes are needed to help settle or even out the voting for all -star games & players. But we must never overlook a point that I didn't see anyone point out...Montreal fans are the most loyal, vocal, and would vote several times a day, and twice as many times, as the most ardent hockey fans here in the USA...in Montreal & othr parts of Canada, it's a way of life bordering on a religious experience. I am going next door to our neighbors for the All Star game on verses...that way I won't have to worry about the $11.00 beers & cokes, the $ 3.oo plus hotdawgs.
Go Canes !!
Fix the system
Thu, 01/08/2009 - 13:57 — fourcornersThey've got to tinker with the system next time around. There simply was too much of a skew placed on the balloting, which makes it less fun in turn for us. I can't believe the Wiz didn't get a nod -- not as confident about Cam's chances, but Whitney has been playing at a level appropriate for a spot on the Eastern roster.