With the 2019 NHL All-Star Game rosters being announced, people get up in arms about snubs and whatnot. Look, I get it. It’s something to argue about. People love that. But the Winnipeg Jets are fairly represented.
The Winnipeg Jets will be certainly sending Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele, two very deserving all-stars, to San Jose at the end of this month.
The two somehow sit outside the top 10 in scoring despite having 50 and 49 points, respectively, in 39 games. Scoring is up this season, folks. They are 12th and 14th in the NHL, which was not what I was expecting.
The only two players above them who haven’t played more games are Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby, basically the two best players in the sport. Make no mistake, though, both Scheifele and Wheeler are on pace for 100 points and among the contenders for the Hart Trophy.
Wheeler has done it with beautiful passing, as only six of his 50 points are goals. Insane. Scheifele is a wrecking ball, with 22 goals (which is just two behind Patrik Laine for the team lead) and 27 assists. Very deserving. If either guy didn’t make it, it would be a shame.
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As far as other deserving Jets? Well, Josh Morrissey is good, but having three Jets is a bit heavy when every team needs a representative.
Also, side note: That’s not a good rule. Not every team has a deserving all-star. Take the Rangers, for instance. I love Henrik Lundqvist, he’s one of the best goalies I’ve ever seen. But his save percentage of .911 barely exceeds what Connor Hellebuyck has done.
And yes, I realize Lundqvist has been pretty good this season. But the defense in front of him isn’t doing him any favors, and he has mediocre stats to show for it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for him, but it doesn’t sound as though he’s deserving.
Another thing: I don’t care. I haven’t watched an NHL All-Star game since they tried to make John Scott look terrible. So, I’m glad Lundqvist made it. I care more about him making it then I do the actual game.
That being said, the Winnipeg Jets representative for the Last Man In is Patrik Laine, who has cooled off quite a bit since that torrid run of goal scoring that had us all thinking 70 goals.
Now, he’s just about on pace for 50, which is still great. But while he has 24 goals, he has just seven assists and a -9 rating. Not exactly lighting the world on fire. I fully expect him to ride a couple more hot streaks, and it might look weird if a 50 goal scorer didn’t make the all-star team.
I mean, I guess he still could, but whatever. One person from each division gets voted in, so he’s up against Vladimir Tarasenko, Jonathan Toews, Tyler Seguin, Zach Parise, Gabriel Landeskog and Filip Forsberg. I’m sure it’d be nice for him to make it, so I can not watch him play in the game.
Either way, I’m sure the players are happy, and isn’t that the most important thing outside of our own, selfish enjoyment?