Tuesday, February 1, 2011

NHL All-Star teams and game recap

This weekend featured a wide array of hockey All-Star hype. It started with the draft, where via the puckflip, Team Staal got the chance to pick first. The picks went like this (Team Staal, Team Lidstrom for picks):
Round 1: Cam Ward, Steven Stamkos
Round 2: Alex Ovechkin, Duncan Keith
Round 3: Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin
Round 4: Zdeno Chara, Shea Weber
Round 5: Rick Nash, Tim Thomas
Round 6: Henrik Lundqvist, Danny Briere
Round 7: Marc Staal, Dustin Byfuglien
Round 8: Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews
Round 9: Dan Boyle, Marc-Andre Fleury
Round 10: Carey Price, Jonas Hiller
Round 11: Jeff Skinner, Brad Richards
Round 12: Kris Letang, Keith Yandle
Round 13: Claude Giroux, Brent Burns
Round 14: Erik Karlsson, Martin Havlat
Round 15: Corey Perry, Anze Kopitar
Round 16: Patrik Elias, Matt Duchene
Round 17: David Backes, Loui Eriksson
Round 18: Paul Stastny, Phil Kessel (center of conspiracy)

After the draft on Friday, the skills competition was held on Saturday. Chara broke his record, Daniel Sedin went accurate, and Ovechkin did what Ovechkin does best, which would be find the camera. Sunday brought the grand finale of the events in Raleigh, the Game. Team Staal was the unofficial host, starting the first period with Cam Ward opposing Team Lidstrom's Marc-Andre Fleury in net. TS got out to a quick lead with Alex Ovechkin scoring with help by Zdeno Chara and Mike Green. TS extended it to 2-0 with Paul Stastny's marker from Patrick Sharp and David Backes. Making it 3-0 TS was Patrik Elias, helped along by Stastny and Green. Claude Giroux extended the TS lead farther, to 4-0 courtesy of Sharp and Backes. TL woke up with an Anze Kopitar tally from Shea Weber. Dustin Byfuglien kept TL going with his goal assisted by Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith. TL cut the deficit to a goal with a Loui Eriksson score, helped along by Jonathan Toews. Completing the TL comeback was Matt Duchene, with Lidstrom himself and Weber providing the assists on the final goal of the first period. Coming on to guard the twines in the second period for TS was Carey Price, and for TL Jonas Hiller had the honors. TS got back to scoring in this frame, with Sharp netting one from Giroux, followed shortly by Kris Letang notching a goal with help from Daniel Sedin and Ovechkin. Kopitar got TL back into the mix with his second of the game, thanks to Loui Eriksson and Martin Havlat. Stamkos got TL into a tie at 6 with his goal from Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards. TL led 7-6 at the end of the second period after Danny Briere scored with helpers provided by Henrik Sedin and the sock trick converting assist from Weber. Heading into the final frame, TS was backstopped by Henrik Lundqvist, while TL put Tim Thomas in the paint. TS tied the game again at 7 with Hometown Hero Eric Staal scoring thanks to Corey Perry and Rick Nash. Letang gave TS the lead with his second of the game, coming from Elias and Jeff Skinner. TL retied the game once more on Briere's second of the game, made possible by Henrik Sedin and Weber's fourth assist. Toews gave TL the lead once again with the help of Eriksson and Havlat. St. Louis made it 10-8 TL with his goal from Brent Burns. Nash got TS within a goal thanks to Perry and Chara. Eriksson added an empty net goal for TL, getting help along the way from Toews and the second sock trick man, Havlat. Eric Staal added his second of the game late in the third period, with help from Dan Boyle and the hat trick of sock tricks Backes, but it was too late to save his team, with Team Lidstrom securing an 11-10 victory over Team Staal. Patrick Sharp was MVP, Shea Weber had the most impressive stat line, and Jonas Hiller was the most effective goalie, going 15 for 17 in saves.

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