Sin of Omission, Pie in the Face

- I’m flaking on the gameday preview today. Let’s just say that we all remember what happened the last time these two teams met...

- Yesterday I did my little “Who’s In” All-Star rant, so today I’d like to talk about who’s not in. While I think the NHL did a good job this year of including some people that should be in but may usually be overlooked, there were, as always, deserving players who missed the cut...

- Vyacheslav Kozlov – Believe me, no one hates the fact that three Atlanta players are leading the NHL in scoring more than I do. But how do you include two of them on the ballot and not the third? Kozlov not only has the same number of points (26) as Kovalchuk, but he also is +6, showing that he is a more complete and defensively responsible player. Incidentally, Hossa and Kovalchuk are +2 and 0 respectively...

- Michael Komisarek – He may only have 4 points, but I think we sometimes forget that defensemen are supposed to be, well...defensemen! That means they defend the goalie (ahem, Mr. Gonchar? You listening?) Komisarek is a young talent for Montreal and is +8 on the season. And if you need those shiny offensive numbers, he’s leading the league with 2 shorthanded goals – not bad for a kid.

- Vesa Toskala – I said it before, but Toskala was really robbed this year. He’s got great numbers and has continued his solid play in net from last season. How he was missed in favor of ‘Bulin is beyond me.

- Dainius Zubrus – Okay, I may be a little biased here, but come on – why is no one taking notice of what this guy is doing? I guess it’s because he has a linemate who’s kind of famous, but still...Zubie has been really amazing this season, netting 11 goals on only 36 shots, winning over 50% of his faceoffs and taking care of his defensive responsibility.

Voting for the All-Star game is now officially open, apparently, but I can’t find it yet. If anyone knows where it is, give me a shout out and I’ll put the link up.