Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

2011 All-Star Game tidbits: Plenty of first-timers, more snub talk, Weekes’ Carolina hot spots

Image (1) allstargamelogo-thumb-350x191-16697-thumb-250x136-16698.jpg for post 15105

James O’Brien

Let’s take a look at a few of the stories regarding the 2011 NHL All-Star Game.


  • From Steven Stamkos to Marc-Andre Fleury and Dustin Bfyuglien, NHL.com reports that 21 of the 42 players set to play in the exhibition will be making their first appearances in the event. It’s easy to critique the choices (more on that in a moment), but let’s not forget that this event is supposed to be a leisurely celebration of the sport more than anything else. Seeing players get their first chance to enjoy it is a nice treat.

  • Brendan Shanahan points out the fact that injuries will likely change the makeup of the roster anyway, but discussed the selection process made by Hockey Operations. Shanahan said that they decided the remaining 36 players (fans voted for the top six) based on a combination of their overall body of work and their play leading up to the process.

  • Philadelphia Daily Times Anthony SanFilippo provided quite the diatribe about the biggest snubs. While it seems like his anger is a little excessive - after all, this is a meaningless game, as he put it - there were some ridiculous omissions. It’s tough to deny the fact that the teams will be missing the likes of Nicklas Backstrom, John-Michael Lilies, Ondrej Pavelec and other slightly lower profile but nonetheless high-end 2010-11 players were left on the sidelines while Patrik Elias managed to get a spot.

  • Finally, let’s take a breezy look at the top five places to visit in Raleigh, North Carolina via former Hurricanes goalie Kevin Weekes. If you didn’t take lunch yet, you’ll probably want to plan that out right about ... now.

[vodpod id=Video.5320841&w=425&h=350&fv=catid%3D35%26amp%3Bid%3D91925%26amp%3Bserver%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fvideo.nhl.com%2Fvideocenter%2F%26amp%3Bpageurl%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fvideo.nhl.com%2Fvideocenter%2F%26amp%3Bnlwa%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fapp2.neulion.com%2Fvideocenter%2Fnhl%2F]