Monday we linked to a column in the Ottawa Citizen that suggested 41-year-old future Hall-of-Famers Teemu Selanne and Nicklas Lidstrom were breaching their duty to show up for the All-Star Game on Jan. 29 at Scotiabank Place.
Suffice to say the column wouldn’t have had the support of Rob Blake, the former NHL all-star, now working for the league, who’s intimately involved in the selection process.
“There’s only a few (players) each year that have earned that right and those two guys have definitely represented the league a number of times and been outstanding players,” Blake told the Canadian Press. “A lot goes into how they’re feeling for their run down the stretch. You obviously want them to be ready for their team especially — a guy like Nick Lidstrom is continuously in conference finals and Stanley Cup finals, the amount of games he plays. ...
“Those two guys have earned more respect from their years of service in the league.”
Of course, the respect they’ve earned is the reason fans who buy tickets to the All-Star Game want to see them. So it’s a bit of a double-edged sword for guys like Lidstrom and Selanne. They’re so well-liked that they’re constantly being pulled in opposite directions. And since they can’t be in two places at the same time, they’re bound to upset somebody and end up feeling guilty.
Meanwhile, disliked people get to stay home alone, watching TV like kings.