The final NHL All-Star roster has been revealed.
F Frank Vatrano, ANA (1st), F Clayton Keller, ARI (4th), F David Pastrnak, BOS (4th), G Jeremy Swayman, BOS (1st), D Rasmus Dahlin, BUF (3rd), F Elias Lindholm, CGY (1st), F Sebastian Aho, CAR (3rd), F Connor Bedard, CHI (1st)+, G Alexandar Georgiev, COL (1st), F Nathan MacKinnon, COL (5th), D Cale Makar, COL (3rd), F Boone Jenner, CBJ (1st), G Jake Oettinger, DAL (1st), F Alex DeBrincat, DET (2nd), F Leon Draisaitl, EDM (5th), F Connor McDavid, EDM (7th), G Sergei Bobrovsky, FLA (2nd), F Sam Reinhart, FLA (1st), G Cam Talbot, LAK (2nd), F Kirill Kaprizov, MIN (3rd), F Nick Suzuki, MTL (3rd), F Filip Forsberg, NSH (2nd), F Jack Hughes, NJD (3rd), F Mathew Barzal, NYI (3rd), F Vincent Trocheck, NYR (2nd), G Igor Shesterkin, NYR (2nd), F Brady Tkachuk, OTT (4th), F Travis Konecny, PHI (2nd), F Sidney Crosby, PIT (6th), F Tomas Hertl, SJS (2nd), F Oliver Bjorkstrand, SEA (1st), F Robert Thomas, STL (1st), F Nikita Kucherov, TBL (5th), F Mitchell Marner, TOR (3rd), F Auston Matthews, TOR (5th), F William Nylander, TOR (1st), D Morgan Rielly, TOR (1st), F Brock Boeser, VAN (2nd), G Thatcher Demko, VAN (2nd), D Quinn Hughes, VAN (2nd), F J.T. Miller, VAN (1st), F Elias Pettersson, VAN (4th), F Jack Eichel, VGK (4th)+, F Tom Wilson, WSH (2nd), F Kyle Connor, WPG (2nd), G Connor Hellebuyck, WPG (4th).
What's interesting is Bedard and Eichel are injured and won't play. The NHL makes a big deal of each team being represented, but that doesn't apply if you're injured. Vegas and Chicago are pretty big hockey markets to omit. Toronto has four players because they're hosting, but Vancouver has a whopping five players. I think that's a record. I guess Alex Ovechkin will never be in another All-Star game. Ditto Evgeni Malkin. Malkin always got screwed because of Crosby. Draisaitl doesn't have that problem despite always being overshadowed by McDavid. Oddly, David Pastrnak, Mikko Rantanen, and Artemi Panarin didn't make it despite being in the top six in scoring. Rantanen competes against MacKinnon and Makar, but there's no excuse for Pastrnak. Panarin opted out due to his wife potentially giving birth.
Things I like
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The Edmonton Oilers winning streak has hit 16 games. Many of them said it's due to the schedule, which is laughable. They don't make the schedule, and teams usually don't string together double-digit wins during the soft part of the schedule. They played four playoff teams and four that might make the playoffs, so it wasn't that easy. Stuart Skinner broke Grant Fuhr's franchise record for the longest winning streak by a goalie. The Oilers usually go through a new goalie every two years, so I give major props to Skinner for surviving. He's better than most think. Even everyone's least favorite pest, Corey Perry, has now leached on and debuted against the Predators. Despite having a Stanley Cup ring, Perry seems to end up on every team with even a remote chance of winning. That's what made signing with the Blackhawks so odd. It'll be interesting to see how the All-Star break affects them.
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Despite playing in his fifth NHL season, Cale Makar has already set the Colorado Avalanche franchise record for goals by a defenseman. He will also break the points and assists records sometime next week or two. All records were held by Tyson Barrie, who played eight seasons for the Avalanche, although two seasons were rather short. Makar is something else. I still remember his debut in the playoffs.
Things I don't
- The Winnipeg Jets traveled to the East Coast and played the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs. They then returned to play the Maple Leafs at home. They lost all three, and I was not impressed by them. They were out-hustled on most plays, couldn't get set up the power play in their zone, missed an open net, took dumb penalties, and had bad turnovers. I know they're missing Mark Scheifele, and no tea is perfect, but my point is they aren't as good as their record indicates. If they don't win the division, they'll have to play Colorado or Dallas in the first round, and I can't imagine them beating either.
Fights of the Week
Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.
Jonah Gadjovich vs Yakov Trenin
Trenin does pretty well, considering he can't see. Headless horseman-style fights are always fun.
Connor Mackey vs Brady Tkachuk
Short but sweet.
Goat of the Week
Sam Gagner - Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers didn't lose, but this is so bad.
https://www.nhl.com/video/cbj-edm-voronkov-scores-goal-against-edmonton-oilers-6345445272112
Goal of the Week
Nathan MacKinnon - Colorado Avalanche
When you're feeling it, you can shoot without looking. More on him below.
https://www.nhl.com/video/lak-col-mackinnon-scores-goal-against-cam-talbot-6345680029112
Stat Line of the Week
1/27/24 Vancouver 5 vs. Columbus 4
| Skater | TOI | G | A | +/- | SOG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B.Boeser | 18:49 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
The Vancouver Canucks found themselves down 4-1 to the Columbus Blue Jackets at home in the third period in their retro jerseys. Brock Boeser had a hat trick and a sweet assist on the Elias Pettersson overtime goal. Pettersson had two goals and an assist.
https://www.nhl.com/video/cbj-van-pettersson-scores-goal-against-elvis-merzlikins-6345760109112
Numbers, Numbers
11 – Points by Nathan MacKinnon in his last three games
28 – Points during MacKinnon's 13-game point streak
25 – Home game points streak for MacKinnon
83 – Points by Nikita Kucherov, one point ahead of MacKinnon, who is 13 ahead of David Pastrnak
600 – Career points for Austin Matthews, the fastest Maple Leaf to reach it
5 – Goals in 11 minutes for the New York Rangers against the Ottawa Senators
Rankings
The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.
Top 5
- Edmonton
- Vancouver
- Boston
- Tampa Bay
- Florida
Bottom 5
- Chicago
- San Jose
- Anaheim
- Los Angeles
- NY Islanders
NFL Thoughts
There's nothing like nail-biting games in the NFL. I wanted a Chiefs vs. 49ers Super Bowl, and I got it. Ryan Clark had adamantly predicted the Ravens vs. Lions in the Super Bowl and that Jared Goff was a better quarterback than Brock Purdy. All head-scratching analysis. There's nothing that I've seen this season that showed any of that would happen or was true.
I feel for the Ravens, but the defense was underwhelming against the Chiefs, and Lamar Jackson seems to melt under pressure. That interception was terrible. The Ravens also had 30 yards of the most undisciplined penalties on one Chiefs drive. It was not a great team effort by them. The Chiefs are well-coached, and Patrick Mahomes is one of the best ever. You need to bring your A-game.
The Lions get a lot of credit for running the ball down the 49ers' throat, but they should have continued. Dan Campbell passing on points several times were not great decisions. Jared Goff overthrew a few open receivers deep, and the receivers couldn't catch the ball when it mattered most. Brock Purdy and the 49ers didn't start well, but that was a masterful second half. Purdy has a Bradyesque quality to him. Tom Brady is more demonstrative, but players love playing for him, and the same is true for Purdy. He can rally the team to make the plays when it matters most. He got lucky on that one throw, but otherwise, it was a very solid second half, and he made great plays with his legs.
I really hope the Super Bowl is close. Thankfully, Taylor Swift will not be there.