Should players be suspended for skipping All-Star Game?

With the NHL All-Star break upon us, the midseason festivities are in full effect. As with every other year, a couple of players this year have dropped out of the game: Alex Ovechkin and Jonathan Toews. The reports indicate that they aren't just skipping the game because they don't feel like going. Rather, Ovechkin is nursing a minor injury and Toews is recovering from illness. These seem like two perfectly good reasons to miss a game that ultimately doesn't mean that much beyond adding money to the league coffers. Yet, both players will be forced to miss their teams' first game back after the break.

One can see why the league does things this way. The league wants to have as many of its marketable stars at the game as possible. Between the leader and face of the most successful team of the decade and one of the premier talents in the league, Toews and Ovechkin are certainly marketable stars. Both are unquestionably stars in the league (unlike one or two particular participants in the event). The motivation behind this rule seems to be to strongly encourage players picked for the game to participate. If not, the punishment for missing a game that doesn't matter is missing one that does.

Still, the league comes off looking very harsh in this year's particular scenarios. If Ovechkin is truly injured (and there's no reason to doubt that), why should he be punished for doing what's best for him, let alone his team? Ovechkin has gone to plenty of All-Star Games in previous years, and he always puts on a show in the skills competition. He'd be there if he could without unnecessary risk.

With Toews, it's a little more nuanced. Toews is not a dazzler when it comes to offensive skills. His best assets are his defense and his leadership. While admirable, they aren't exactly the purpose of the All-Star Game (end-of-season awards are more his scene). Toews is also dealing with an illness. It has to make sense that if he's not feeling up to it, it's the right thing to do to keep him out of the event, if only to not have a potential massive outbreak of whatever he's caught. He'd be more than willing to go if he was healthy as well.

With these two examples this year, it brings to mind the question of whether players should be suspended for missing the All-Star Game. I do believe that players should face some sort of punishment for just skipping the event. That's not a good look for the league and isn't professional on the parts of the players who take that route. However, in these cases, there are documented reasons for missing the game, and quite valid ones at that. The league has to realize that being healthy enough to play for a regular season game may not be healthy enough to justify spending a weekend playing glorified pond hockey. I don't think Ovechkin and Toews should have to miss the first game back after the break if they are rested enough to play. I understand that the one-game ban is a deterrent for skipping, but that's not the reason these two superstars are missing the festivities this weekend. Let me know what you think in the comments.