Who made it to the NHL All-Star game and how – NHL Special Part V
Keith Yandle (Phoenix Coyotes)
The Coyotes' defenseman has been selected for a back-to-back All-Star appearance since joining the Coyotes five years ago.
Yandle was selected for the prestigious fixture last year on the back of some of his best performances and the defenseman has not lost any of his form to return back for his second game amongst the best in the NHL.
Yandle has scored six goals and made a further 23 assists for a total of 29 points as he helped the struggling Coyotes just about keep pace in the race for the playoffs.
Dennis Wideman (Washington Capitals)
The 28-year old Capitals defenseman is having a wonderful 2011 season even though Washington has struggled for consistency of late.
Wideman will be playing his first All-Star game on the weekend after scoring nine goals and making 25 assists for a total of 34 points.
The defenseman is dangerous on the power play scoring 4 goals with the man advantage and sending a further 11 assists which make him a potent weapon in the All-Star matchup.
Goaltenders
Tim Thomas (Boston Bruins)
The Bruins Stanley Cup winning goaltender courted controversy this week after refusing to attend a White House event given by President Barack Obama to honour the Stanley Cup winning Bruins.
The goaltender refused on the grounds of not agreeing to the policies of the government and made his feelings known through a message on his official Facebook profile.
He will however be attending the All-Star game this weekend. Thomas has continued his brilliant form from last year’s title win as the Bruins move up to second in the Eastern Conference joint on points with the table topping New York Rangers.
Thomas started 30 games this season making 882 saves and recording four shutouts in the season. The 37-year old has a brilliant 0.933 save percentage and will be playing in his fourth All-Star game on the weekend.
Carey Price (Montreal Canadiens)
The goaltender is one of only two Habs players to make it to the All-Star event this year after what has been one of the worst seasons in the Canadiens history.
Price though has played well and if not for him, Montreal’s season may have been even worse than their current form.
The goaltender has a 17-17-8 record in the games he has played while posting 2 shutouts. His save percentage is also decent with 0.914.
The 24-year old goaltender will be playing his third All-Star game in his four year career with previous appearences in 2009 and 2011.
Jonathan Quick (Los Angeles Kings)
The 26-year old goaltender has been one of the standout performers in the season as the low scoring Kings have just about maintained pace and consolidate their seventh spot in the Western Conference.
Quick has been massive in all of the games he started and with LA’s offence not managing to score a lot of goals, they have started depending on Quick’s brilliant form in front of goal to keep them in games.
The goaltender has made 1146 saves this season with a 0.934 percentage. With a 21-12-9 record in the 42 games he started Quick will be a big asset for any All-Star team that drafts him.
The goaltender will be playing his first All-Star game.
To be continued..
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