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Edmonton’s Ales Hemsky and Jordan Eberle are out for All-Star Weekend

Jamie Langenbrunner, Ales Hemsky

Edmonton Oilers’ Ales Hemsky (83) of Czech Republic skates past the defense of Dallas Stars’ Jamie Langenbrunner, rear, in the third period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011, in Dallas. The Stars won 3-2. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

AP

Turns out that Sidney Crosby and Jarome Iginla won’t be the only All-Stars missing out on the big event in Raleigh next weekend. Edmonton Oilers Ales Hemsky and Jordan Eberle will be missing out on the festivities for All-Star Weekend thanks to separate ailments. Hemsky will miss out on the All-Star Game thanks to the concussion he suffered recently while Eberle will not be participating in the Skills Competition as part of the rookie contingency there due to an ankle injury.

Hemsky’s selection to the All-Star Game was a much-debated choice given the seemingly better candidacies of a handful of other players. With Crosby reportedly out of the game and the potential solution of choosing from rookie participants at the Skills Competition two spots are up for grabs. The case can be made that those spots should be filled by veteran players like Martin Havlat, Joe Thornton, or John Tavares but the league might opt for a more dramatic way of filling out the rosters by choosing to fill those spots on the teams from the rookie group.

Of course, now that rookie group is one light thanks to Eberle missing out. Who takes his position there will be debated but a couple possibilities you might see there are Capitals defenseman John Carlson and Penguins forward Mark Letestu. Expect to get announcements on how the league opts to fill Hemsky’s and Crosby’s spots in the All-Star Game soon while a replacement for Eberle should come in short order.