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A look at the NHL's all-star snubs The NHL unveiled the full list if participants for the upcoming All-Star game on Thursday. And now that we know the names of all 42 players who've earned a trip to Ottawa in two weeks, we should take a moment to recognize them for their success.

We should, but we won't. Because while talking about the players who made the roster is nice, the real fun for hockey fans comes in complaining about the ones who were left off. So it's no surprise that the annual debate over which players were snubbed has already begun.

Here are some of the players who fans may have been hoping to see on All-Star Weekend who didn't quite make the final cut.

Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit - The 41-year-old Red Wing veteran apparently asked the league not to include him, which is a shame because at this current age and rate of performance this was our last chance to see him play in an all-star game until next season and the six more after that.

James Neal, Pittsburgh - The Penguins winger has recently been carrying the team, literally, since all the other players on the roster are currently too injured to move on their own.

Nicklas Backstrom, Washington - Teammate Alexander Ovechkin criticized Backstrom's absence to local media, adding that it was almost as if his spot had been given to a far less-deserving player solely for marketing reasons before furrowing his brow and then trailing off awkwardly.

Kris Versteeg, Florida - It was unfortunate that there wasn't room to include Versteeg since it would have been fun to see him reunited with his recent former teammates, every other player in the league.

Zenon Konopka, Ottawa - Probably shouldn't have made it given that he's only managed five points on the season, but you still have to feel kind of bad for him for being the only Senator who wasn't voted into the starting lineup.

Scott Hartnell, Philadelphia - He'd told reporters he was really hoping for a chance to play in the game but now he won't get that opportunity unless one of the other players ends up declining due to injury, which is to say he's definitely playing in the game.

Brad Marchand, Boston - His vote totals were clearly far too low, although for some reason Bruin fans and media insist on pretending they were just fine.

Jaroslav Halak, St. Louis - Wasn't named to the final roster despite being an excellent player and a fantastic dressing room guy who's always coming up with team-building practical jokes likes switching jerseys with his backup for half a season.

Teemu Selanne, Anaheim - The veteran star declined an invitation after apparently deciding that he'd rather spend a January weekend in Southern California than in Ottawa, so at least we've found one NHL star who hasn't had a recent head injury.

Steve Mason, Columbus - All-star goalies typically play one period and give up five or six goals before being pulled, and it would have been nice to see him have his best game of the season.

Dany Heatley, Minnesota - It would have been interesting for him to be there in Ottawa since he'd have been booed by all the diehard Senator fans, and based on the NHL's all-star ticket policy there may be up to 30 or 40 of them at the game.

Ryan Kesler and Kevin Bieksa, Vancouver - Including both players on the roster would have brought the total number of Canucks taking part in the weekend to six, which would be perfect in case Shawn Thornton showed up.

Mike Cammalleri, Calgary - In hindsight, that Wednesday night "Hope you like playing meaningless games next to overpaid guys who don't backcheck" fortune cookie probably wasn't referring to the all-star game after all.


st Posted by Down Goes Brown at 7:41 AM Labels: backstrom, bieksa, cammalleri, halak, hartnell, heatley, kesler, konopka, lidstrom, marchand, mason, neal, ovechkin, selanne, versteeg
