The votes have been counted, and the final four players for the 2019 All-Star game have been announced. The “Last Men In” this year are Jeff Skinner (Atlantic), Kris Letang (Metropolitan), Gabriel Landeskog (Central) and Leon Draisaitl (Pacific).
While this was obviously a fan vote, it does come with some interesting consequences. First of all, it means that the Montreal Canadiens will not have a representative included at the event, after Carey Price decided to pull out due to nagging injuries. Shea Weber was up for the Atlantic fan vote but lost to Skinner, leaving Montreal on the outside looking in while also having to sit Price for at least one game.
There will also be plenty of deserving candidates that have been left out, perhaps most notably Mark Giordano and Morgan Rielly who look ready to challenge for the Norris Trophy this year given their outstanding offensive production. Giordano’s team will in fact only have a single representative at the event despite the Calgary Flames currently being in first place in the entire Western Conference and second in the NHL.
Still, all four of these players are deserving of accolades this season and were obviously the fan favorites. That’s what the All-Star game is all about, and the crowd in San Jose will surely be pleased to see the incredible talents each can bring. The game is set for January 26th.
Hana bushata
are you kidding me
Gonna call bull that Rielly didn’t make it
Same
Probably going to win the Norris but not good enough for the all star game…. … .. .. .
the NHL has to rethink this disaster of a format. sure it’s kinda fun but when you are arguably leaving off 3 clear all stars in Giordano, Reilly and Marner and of those 3, 2 are arguably in the top 5 in Norris trophy candidates, that screams problem.
I get wanting every team to be represented but piss poor teams should not be rewarded simply because they exist.
But what about those precious 4 or 5 viewers that will enrich the NHL’s coffers with $4-$5 worth of meaningless sales of NHL clearance junk in the piss-poor teams’ markets?
Yeah, I agree with you — they DON’T deserve representation! Socialist-ing at work against you and me!
Y’all take this way too seriously
I’m all for dropping the NHL all star game altogether but if they are having one, have all-stars
Leafs shoulda sent Marner Reilly n Matthews! Hell Tavaras is in the discussion. Total BS