from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star,

Nick Foligno just smiled when told he wouldn’t be able to pick Sidney Crosby in the all-star draft.

“Yes, I heard that,” smiled Foligno, a Columbus Blue Jackets winger and captain of one of the two teams in Sunday’s NHL showcase.

The surprising news came out around suppertime Thursday that Crosby wouldn’t be appearing here due to injury, certainly a blow to a league that understands every event it holds is better and carries a higher profile when Crosby is involved.

He’s actually only appeared in the all-star game once, for a wide variety of reasons. And this time, sources suggest the mysterious “lower body” problem is actually a hip injury aggravated this week during hotly contested games in Philadelphia and at home against Chicago that’s has knocked Crosby out of the game as a precautionary measure.

Fair enough, and Crosby has a lifetime get-out-of-jail-free card for the service he’s done as an ambassador for the league and the sport.

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