Jan 05 2009
Monday Morning Skate: Habs All-Stars and World Juniors
When fans vote for all-stars you can guarantee one thing, inconsistencies. There are three players atop the NHL’s scoring race from the Eastern Conference; only two of them are going to be starting the all-star game. Four out of six players voted starters for the East are from the Montreal Canadiens.
Alex Ovechkin is second in league scoring with 53 points, and is arguably the best player in the world. Alex Kovalev is on pace for about 60 points this season and has been openly criticized by both the media and his own coach. Kovalev was voted as a starting forward for the Eastern Conference all-star team.
If I have my times tables correct, and I do, then Ovechkin’s 27 goals are three times Kovalev’s 9 goals. It gets worse, Mike fuckin’ Komisarek will also be starting. Ovechkin’s teammate Mike Green and former Hab Mark Streit (leading all defensemen in scoring) would make much more logical selections as starters. Then again, there isn’t much collective logic among these voters.
Four out of six starters for the East will be from Montreal, only Carey Price and Andrei Markov are actually worthy of the selection. I love Komisarek’s hard-hitting style, but we’re talking about a game where players tend to pussy-foot around the ice… we want the goals.
On Tonight:
Is there even a conversation to be had here? The only hockey game I’ll be watching tonight is the Canada vs. Sweden gold medal game. Saturday night’s Canada and Russia semi-final was one of the greatest games I’ve ever watched in the World Junior Championship, and a pleasant renewal of hockey’s greatest rivalry.
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I agree that the only game to watch tonight will be the gold medal game. Those last two games, vs Russia and the US were unreal, and I have no doubt that the final tonight against Sweden will be just as great!
For sure! This tournament has been one of the best I’ve ever watched. Crowds in Ottawa can be pretty dull sometimes, but I bet they’ll be fired up tonight!
I’m a die-hard Habs fan, so I’ll try to have some objectivity here.
Yes, the starting players are silly. There should absolutely not be 4 Habs. Markov and Price both deserve it. Kovalev and Komisarek don’t. More on Kovalev below.
There are 2 buts, however.
1- This is the all-star game. Who gives a hoot? It’s an exhibition of skill that means nothing whatsoever…and to that end, Kovalev has oodles of skill. Again, I’m not saying he should start but he won’t *look* out of place when the puck drops.
2- Whenever something is put to a popular vote, stupidities occur. The Rory Fitzpatrick campaign? Dick Duff in the hall of fame? Ron Santo NOT in the baseball hall of fame? Dubya? Fans and media alike make dumb decisions on things MUCH more important than the all-star game.
Electronic voting will lead to ballot stuffing. In a city like Montreal where the Canadiens are the #1 religion, you can bet people will do what it takes to get their players in, if only to give the rest of the league the bird. Why do people do that? Because they can. It’s not right, it’s not fair to guys who deserve to be on the ice when the puck drops, but c’est la vie.
This should serve as a wake-up call to anyone who runs popular votes to find new ways to make them secure and honest. I haven’t voted for the all-star game (seriously, I haven’t, and never have). This is a useless game and the system should be fixed before something meaningful is impacted by a crazed fans (remember, “fans” is the abbreviated word for “fanatics”).
As for the juniors, have we had a Stanley Cup final in the past 10 years that has been as exciting as any of the past WJHCs from the same time frame? The games vs the U.S. and Russia were both heart stoppers that had people on the edge of their seats throughout the game. I didn’t think the Russia-Canada game could top the U.S. game, but it did.
Here’s hoping the gold medal final can top that (with a win by the team in red of course!)
-Kyle
twitter.com/kyleroussel