from Jack Todd at the Montreal Gazette,

Let’s not try to put lipstick on a pig. The NHL all-star selections are ludicrous, period. There’s no defending this, no trying to pretend there are good reasons for some of the people who got tickets to Columbus to be there — or for leaving out some of those who will spend the break on a beach.

It’s a travesty that Max Pacioretty and P.K. Subban weren’t selected, period. Two years ago, Subban was good enough to win a Norris Trophy. So this year, he isn’t good enough to make the all-star team? Are we trying for farce here? Because the joke isn’t funny.

The problem starts with the rule that every team, even the rancid Edmonton Oilers, has to get a selection. So we get the sort-of-not-too-awful-but-not-really-very-good Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with his 25 points and his minus-5 in what is supposed to be an All-Star Game. What next? They all get orange slices and certificates for participating?

I don’t know what’s uglier here. The All-Star Game uniforms or the team selection. We get Bobby Ryan with his 12 goals and 16 assists, the guy who can’t spell “intense.” We get Phat Phil Kessel, who is to the Maple Leafs what dry rot is to a house. Thanks to fans with devices in hand, we get an entire Blackhawks unit and Zemgus Girgensons, whose name is better than his game: 11 goals, nine assists and a minus-6.

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