As if I need more reasons to hate the Pens and their idiot fans

by arkanfel on Jan 4, 2011 12:44 PM CST

Let me start by saying that of the Penguins selected, I probably hate Crosby the most but he also happens to be about the only one of the four--FOUR--of them (the other three being Malkin, Letang and Fleury) that deserves to be an All-Star starter this year.

So what the hell happened here? Malkin is a whopping thirty-eighth in the league for points. Thirty-eighth! And he's a starter! Letang, hilariously enough, is immediately behind him at 39. To put it into perspective, the closest Wing to Malkin/Letang points-wise is Johan Franzen. I like Mule and all, but is he really having an All-Star year? Fuck no. Malkin has even less of a case considering the numbers he usually puts up.

In Letang's case, I'll grant that he has a beastly plus-minus, but remember last year when everyone was raving about how great Mike Green was with his world-eating stats? Where is he now? Oh, that's him down there at #30... among defensemen. Letang being +20 right now probably has more to do with Crosby than Letang, just like how Lidstrom being even has more to do with the rest of the team than it does with Lidstrom.

Don't get me started on Fleury: before last year's Final, he was probably the worst goaltender to have ever won a Stanley Cup. I'll grant that he's put up reasonable numbers this year (particularly in GAA) but there's still at least ten goaltenders I'd rather have between the pipes in any given game. Where is Tim Thomas? Or Ondrej Pavelec?

Memo to Pens fans: All-Star ballots are meant to reflect who the best players are, not your favorites. I love the Red Wings' roster this year, but as singular entities only a few of them are really All-Stars in any given year. You [redacted] homers ruined the All-Star voting by not being able to see past your own noses. Lrn2hockey.

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Fan voting has NEVER been about who's the best

And thus, why fan voting is effing stupid and should never be allowed to determine anything. I’d much rather see the players vote for the two captains and let them make their selections from the entire NHL players’ pool with no fan balloting at all. Now THAT would produce some noteworthy selection/snub talk.

Think about how stupid the average person is, and then realize that half of them are even stupider! --George Carlin

by J_Stone on Jan 4, 2011 1:17 PM CST reply actions

yeah

that’s probably true, I just can’t remember the last time the selections were this bad/blatant

No Limits.

by arkanfel on Jan 4, 2011 1:21 PM CST up reply actions

2009

When Montreal hosted the game. At one point late in the voting, they held all 6 Eastern Conference starting spots.

Dancing Datsyuk Decidedly Dazzles Dainty Defensemen

by Robocop on Jan 4, 2011 1:29 PM CST up reply actions

My comment mentioned that. I posted it and yours showed up less than five seconds later. Funny how that happens.

by Apocalyptic0n3 on Jan 4, 2011 1:30 PM CST up reply actions

Ah

I didn’t really follow the balloting in 09. Is the All-Star game in Pittsburgh this year?

No Limits.

by arkanfel on Jan 4, 2011 1:45 PM CST up reply actions

No.

Carolina.

No correlation other than the Pens are an extremely popular team and with the visibility boost thanks to 24/7 and the Winter Classic, it’s not surprising that they’ve managed to get a few more fans to lean their way.

Dancing Datsyuk Decidedly Dazzles Dainty Defensemen

by Robocop on Jan 4, 2011 1:59 PM CST up reply actions

I actually dont have some much of a problem with that having the host team have the starters yes they probably arent all the best players in the league ｂｕｔ really the allstar voting is so dumb anyways who really cares at least the hometown fans get a reward　

by jonathan.onne on Jan 6, 2011 9:20 PM CST up reply actions

+1 for 'who really cares'

by styks on Jan 10, 2011 11:08 PM CST up reply actions

See: Allen Iverson, NBA.

by tehGOALIE on Jan 4, 2011 10:44 PM CST up reply actions

Wasn’t there 4 or 5 Canadiens starting the last All Star game (when it was in Montreal)? It’s always like this. Just take comfort in the fact that the league will vote the true all stars onto the team and that Lidstrom, Zetterberg, and possibly Datsyuk and Cleary (depending on their health) will be amongst those elite who truly were selected as all stars.

Also, I might give Fleury the nod as an All Star. He’s not the best netminder in the East (that belongs to Thomas without any shred of a doubt), but he has been top 3 or 4 in the East this season (especially with how poorly Brodeur, Miller, and Lundqist have been playing).

by Apocalyptic0n3 on Jan 4, 2011 1:29 PM CST reply actions

well

as I mention above, Fleury has at least been putting up good numbers this season, but both Thomas and (IMO) Pavelec have been playing better and deserved more votes than they got. Crosby? yeah, vote him in. Fleury, reasonable men can differ on. But Malkin and Letang? Fffffuuuuck that, thankyouverymuch.

No Limits.

by arkanfel on Jan 4, 2011 1:32 PM CST up reply actions

I agree. Thomas is somehow having an even better season than his Vezina year and Pavelec’s team is not as good as their record indicates – but he definitely is (this year’s Brzygalov). But who else is there? Cam Ward? He’s doing what Pavelec is but not as successfully. Boucher? They’re using a three goalie rotation. Price maybe? Fleury, in my eyes, is the third, at worst fourth, best goalie in the East. He should be an all star by that logic, in my eyes.

by Apocalyptic0n3 on Jan 4, 2011 2:29 PM CST up reply actions

Forgot to mention that I don’t think he should be a starter, but who really cares who starts so long as they belong in the game?

by Apocalyptic0n3 on Jan 4, 2011 2:29 PM CST up reply actions

re: Brodeur

It’s amazing what happens when the team put forth in front of him fails spectacularly at playing trap hockey.

Dancing Datsyuk Decidedly Dazzles Dainty Defensemen

by Robocop on Jan 4, 2011 1:33 PM CST up reply actions

It’s actually kind of sad to see Brodeur have to play with that in front of him. Even in his prime, he couldn’t have done much with that.

by Apocalyptic0n3 on Jan 4, 2011 2:24 PM CST up reply actions

Exactly. His stats are the product of a system. And without that system he is a so-so goaltender, not the greatest ever.

Dancing Datsyuk Decidedly Dazzles Dainty Defensemen

by Robocop on Jan 4, 2011 2:30 PM CST up reply actions

I’d argue otherwise. He did carry any number of teams that were not good enough to be champions, yet were. Teams where the only defensive aspect in front of him was Scott Stevens. The team this year is just that bad.

by Apocalyptic0n3 on Jan 4, 2011 7:39 PM CST up reply actions

"especially with how poorly Brodeur, Miller, and LUNDQVIST have been playing"

on some nights, the Rangers are still in the game ONLY because of Lundqvist. i get the point you’re trying to make, and agree with the other goalies you mention, but i dont think 16-12-3 with a 2.39GAA and .921Sv% (5 shutouts) is “playing poorly.” (if anything, it shows how crap the team in front of him is.)

by uvgt2bkdnme on Jan 5, 2011 1:02 AM CST up reply actions

I hadn’t checked his stats in quite a while, just knew that the Rangers were still playing bad. I have been proven wrong.

by Apocalyptic0n3 on Jan 5, 2011 3:29 AM CST up reply actions

Word redacted

arkanfel,

Personally, I have no problem with the word you used in your post that I had to redact, but you’ve been warned by Casey before that it is not acceptable. Please use a different word in the future.

Personally, I hope the whole Penguins squad plays in the ASG instead of resting at home and getting ready for a late push into the playoffs and a deep playoff run.

by J.J. from Kansas on Jan 4, 2011 2:07 PM CST reply actions 1 recs

Personally, personally, personally, personally.

I personally used to be better about proofreading my own posts.. personally.

by J.J. from Kansas on Jan 4, 2011 2:11 PM CST up reply actions

Did you mis-spell “personally”? Because I just don’t see it and it’s driving me insane trying to find it.

Dancing Datsyuk Decidedly Dazzles Dainty Defensemen

by Robocop on Jan 4, 2011 2:22 PM CST up reply actions

I think

he was more referring to the fact that he opened both paragraphs with the same word

No Limits.

by arkanfel on Jan 4, 2011 2:25 PM CST up reply actions

Yeah, opening both paragraphs was it.

by J.J. from Kansas on Jan 4, 2011 2:27 PM CST up reply actions

Ok. Just had me a little worried that was unable to spell personally, or spot the mis-spelling.

Dancing Datsyuk Decidedly Dazzles Dainty Defensemen

by Robocop on Jan 4, 2011 2:30 PM CST up reply actions

Thats

the Department of Redundancy Department talking.

by Kendal on Jan 4, 2011 3:30 PM CST up reply actions

Oh

Sorry, it won’t happen again. I’ll assume you guys have a record of it and I simply forgot, but I don’t remember being warned about it in the past. Was a little heated, is all.

No Limits.

by arkanfel on Jan 4, 2011 2:18 PM CST up reply actions

No problem

I think it happened in a game thread, where comments move pretty fast. You know now.

by J.J. from Kansas on Jan 4, 2011 2:28 PM CST up reply actions

And knowing is half the battle

Think about how stupid the average person is, and then realize that half of them are even stupider! --George Carlin

by J_Stone on Jan 4, 2011 3:40 PM CST up reply actions

We understand.

I doubt many Wings fans have many nice things to say about Pittsburgh or their hockey “fanbase”.

by tehGOALIE on Jan 4, 2011 10:47 PM CST up reply actions

i'm less pissed (but still am) about Pittsburgh than the Chicago picks

Duncan Keith (THIS YEAR’s Duncan Keith) was voted in. i feel stupid as a hockey fan to see that. and it makes my hatred of the Blackhawks begin to rival that of the Penguins.

by uvgt2bkdnme on Jan 5, 2011 12:57 AM CST reply actions

So bleeding what?

Let the entire Pens team play in the All-Star game. Then when May rolls around and they were wishing they had a couple more days off to rest during the season the real “value” of the All-Star game will be apparent.

In fact, I think I’m going to go online and vote for every NON-Red Wings player about 50 times. I want the Wings on a beach somewhere, not in this glorified exhibition.

by Big Z in Orlando on Jan 5, 2011 12:22 PM CST reply actions

If playing in 1 more “game” 2 months before the end of the season causes any pro player to be tired during the stretch run, then I seriously call into question their athleticism, training and conditioning.

Dancing Datsyuk Decidedly Dazzles Dainty Defensemen

by Robocop on Jan 5, 2011 1:31 PM CST up reply actions

I agree

that over the course of the season, one game shouldn’t make a difference. However, the season is the grind and players on the Red Wings have repeatedly stated how much they prefer having time off to being involved in the the All Star game and other activities.

A few days away from the game at the right time can make a difference in the long term.

by Big Z in Orlando on Jan 5, 2011 3:44 PM CST up reply actions

to be fair

Letang is a D-man who is 3rd in the league in scoring behind Lidstrom…

not that I don’t completely agree with the Starters being complete horse shit.

I would say, Crysby a starter? Yes. Letang a Starter? No. He should be in the game considering hes in the top 3 for his position.

You just got Kronwalled!

by DeathtotheHawks on Jan 8, 2011 3:14 PM CST reply actions

Third in which league?

If it’s the NHL as a whole, and Lidstrom is #1, then Letang is in the top two in the Eastern Conference. He’s deserving of a starting spot for the other side.

(Not that I can recall exactly what format the voting is going by this year)

I'm expecting 100% improvement from the Lions this season.

by ahtrap on Jan 9, 2011 4:18 AM CST up reply actions

I still suspect

that his selection has more to do with what team he’s on than his place in the standings. I mean, look at Malkin for Christ’s sake.

No Limits.

by arkanfel on Jan 9, 2011 12:12 PM CST up reply actions

I wouldn’t give the Pens fans too much crap. They are just voting for the players that they’ve actually heard of. Most have probably never heard of anyone outside of Pittsburgh.

by dewman8810 on Jan 9, 2011 4:07 PM CST reply actions