January 29, 2012
NHL All-Star Game 2012: 5 Players to Watch in Today’s All-Star Game
With the showing at the All-Star Skills Competition last night, the players to watch list has grown as player stepped up to the challenge last night.
With today’s All-Star Game being mostly about offense, it has made it pretty easy to find players to watch in the All-Star game.
1. Steven Stamkos:
Can’t go wrong with choosing Steven Stamkos as a player to watch in this game. Stamkos was 3-3 last night in the Elimination Shootout, winning four big points for Team Alfredsson to help them to victory. Stamkos won the Elimination Shootout, showing the hockey world why he leads the NHL in goals with 32. Stamkos showed that he was effective at close range in the shootout, but he also has an extremely lethal slapshot that he unloads from the top of the circle.
2. Pavel Datsyuk
The first overall draft selection in the All-Star Fantasy Draft did not have that big of an opportunity to shine in the Skills Competition last night. He participated in the stick-handling part of the Super Skills Relay, but missed on his only shootout attempt, leading him to bow out early last night. Look for Datsyuk to show a little bit of a fire today at the All-Star Game after being relatively quiet in the Super Skills. If he gets the chance, I see Datsyuk pulling out a “Datsyukian” deke if he gets the chance today.
3. Daniel and Henrik Sedin
The Sedin twins are on the same team for this All-Star event, and if they are placed on the same line, they will be even more dangerous. The Sedins are the last two Art Ross Trophy winners, and putting them on the same line, possibly with Daniel Sedin. The thought of that all-Swede line would make most opposing coaches shake in their boots in the regular season. Since this is an All-Star game, and defense is lacking and almost non-existent, the Sedins and Alfredsson (if it pans out that way) will likely have their way getting to the net and getting quality scoring chances.
4. Tyler Seguin
Tyler Seguin (soon to be no longer a teenager) is one of the most dynamic young players in the League. He has 43 points in 46 games before the All-Star break. Seguin didn’t have the best showing in the Skills Competition last night as he missed on his only “Elimination Shootout” attempt, and it took him 30 seconds to knock down the targets in the accuracy challenge. As a young player, not many are expected to perform well in the All-Star game. Look for Tyler Seguin to change that a little bit today. It might not be apparent at the start, but Seguin does have five game winning goals this season. That’s pretty good for a second year player, and Seguin has played in big games before like last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs, where he picked up seven points in 13 games as a rookie.
5. Henrik Lundqvist
Henrik Lundqvist stepped up for Team Alfredsson last night at the Skills Competition, making six saves on seven shots. That’s pretty clutch for any goaltender. Any period in the All-Star Game where a goalie doesn’t give up more then three goals is usually a pretty good period considering that the defensemen are usually a little bit more lackadaisical. If Henrik Lundqvist can duplicate the performance he put on last night against the Team Chara shooters, he could end up being the game MVP.
Related posts:
- NHL Predictions 2012: Picking the 42 Players That Will Make the All-Star Game
- 2012 NHL All-Star Game: 10 Players Who Do Not Deserve to Be on the Ballot
- NHL All-Star Game 2012: 6 Players That Don’t Belong
- NHL All-Star Game 2012: Updated Skills Competition Predictions
- 2012 NHL All-Star Game: 5 Players Who Will Impress at the Skills Competition
