President Barack Obama saluted the Boston Bruins for their Stanley Cup championship on Monday, but one key member of the team skipped the White House visit in protest. Who do you like for each of the top Skills events on Saturday? Note: How could we forget Pavel 'Dangle Dangle' Datysuk?) Chara's squad, with the likes of Eberle, Seguin and Malkin, should give them a good push, but this one is a landslide. Between Stamkos, Claude Giroux, John Tavares, the Sedins, you might as well call them the 'All-Hands Team'. Trick Shot Competition - No Alex Ovechkin means someone else is going to have to break out the fishing hat and Canadian flags this year. Louis is also missing, so young legs will likely once again dominate in this category as both teams are flush with that kind of talent.įastest Goalie - Alfredsson and Chara still have to choose which All-Stars will perform in what events, but if we had our way, we'd like to see Tim Thomas defend his honor - no, not from this past week's events - after his stumble while racing Cam Ward a year ago. While it's a bit different trying to hit four round targets in each corner of a goal, it has to be some sort of advantage, yeah?įastest Skater - We'll have a new champion this year with Michael Grabner's absence, and Stamkos is the only All-Star back from last year who posted a sub-15 second time. Dustin Byfuglien's absence, as the only other All-Star in 2011 to break 100 mph will be sorely missed, so we'll just have to settled for a three-way dance.Īccuracy Shootout - Steven Stamkos, Scott Hartnell and Milan Michalek are the top three All-Stars in the shooting percentage category and Daniel Sedin, last year's champion, give Team Alfie the edge here. Of course, both lost to Chara's record-breaking 105.9 mph attempt. Hardest Shot - Team Alfie has to have the slight edge this year with two of the top three finishers in last year's competition on their side in Steven Stamkos and Shea Weber. So how do these rosters stack up as we look ahead to some of the more anticipated Skills Competition events on Saturday night? Rookies: Sean Couturier, Carl Hagelin, Nick Johnson, Matt Read, Craig Smith, Justin Faulk Logan Couture, San Jose Sharks (final selection) Team Daniel Alfredsson (alternate captain Henrik Lundqvist)ġ9. Rookies: Colin Greening, Gabriel Landeskog, Ryan Johansen, Cody Hodgson, Luke Adam, Raphael Diaz Team Zdeno Chara (alternate captain Joffrey Lupul)ġ. Here's the final breakdown of the 38 selections, including the group of rookies placed on each squad. No trade between the two sides, the Sedins stick together and Logan Couture goes home with a new car.īut we did get lots of booing of Joffrey Lupul and his Toronto Maple Leafs teammates from the Ottawa crowd, so that was fun. No big snubs or dramatic teammate double-crosses. The dust has settled and the 2012 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft is complete.

Nhl 2004 rebuilt all star teams