ASG Captains announced

[Burner]

Kovalev hahahahaha

He isn't even the captain of his team, well I guess he is a fill in.

 

[wildfan1833]

This is a smoke-and-mirrors event for the fans. Why not have Kovalev as the captain - most of the fans in attendance will be residents of Montreal.
For the West, they should of made Sourey the captain - again, fan favorite in the venue.

To suggest it should of been Bill or Frank or Tony - really, the only people who care are the guys who never got their bonus this year as they were not named.

The real all-star games start at game 83.

This is ALSO 100% Truewned:

 

[warsawknuckles]

why even bother naming captains of an all-star team? the point of a captain is to lead a team... and all-star games are all about individual players and achievements. remember what Herb Brooks (ok, it was actually Kurt Russell in Miracle) said- the reason that all-star type teams fail (against real teams, that is... ie. the Russians) is because they are about individual players, not the team as a whole (yeah, that was paraphrased). hopefully you get my point... all-star teams don't need captains.

 

[fly4apuckguy]

Talk about a kick in the teeth for the players....man....

First fans vote in the players who underperform most on their team, and some of the managers dont even pick their best players. Now the two worst leaders in the sport are picked captains??

I thought Bettman was trying to promote the sport, why do they pull this garbage, and why does he allow angry fans to make a mockery of the game?

In all complete and total 100% honesty, I had a long chat with a friend of mine, we are convinced Bettman is letting canada run the show to appease the fans for him giving Hamilton, QC, and winnipeg the cold shoulder (not to mention taking away a few teams over the years). Allow MTL fans to sweep the voting (we know from past games that the leagues can rig their voting very easily) give them a captain even though everyone this side of the atlantic knows kovalev couldnt captain a KHL beer league between-periods-5- minute exhibition. Then he puts Thornton, maybe even a worse choice for captain. As much heart as Kovalev lacks, Thornton actually has less, much less. But the rivalry Thornton once had with MTL and its fans is a good match for a "classic" ASG that only 1/30 of the leagues fans will remember.... Somewhere in there I had a good idea, then the stupidity of the whole thing took over....maybe thats why it has more truth to it than some fans will admit....

I've read some ridiculous posts in my day, but this one really has to get an award or something for most inane conspiracy theory ever. Do you actually think Bettman has a plan of ANY kind, let alone an "appease Canada" plan? Come on. You and your friend need a better discussion topic.

As for the choices for captain, I think your assessment of Joe Thornton is off-base, calling him heartless. While I'd admit he has not won or led his to team to victory in "the big game", he's not the guy you are describing either. Aside from being one of the league's top point getters every year, the guy has even won a Hart Trophy. I am actually going to cheer for the Sharks now, in the hopes that some of his naysayers (who have obviously not followed his entire career very closely) will eat their words.

Also, the other players won't care who the captain is, so it will be no "kick in the teeth" to anyone.

Finally, if you wanted more Rangers players in the game, or at least non-Canadiens, you and your friend should have voted more, plain and simple. Canadiens fans care more than Rangers fans or other fans this year (hmmm...they care more...maybe other fans didn't show enough heart). I'm no Habs fan, but I say good on 'em for being organized and doing it their way.

 

[fly4apuckguy]

why even bother naming captains of an all-star team? the point of a captain is to lead a team... and all-star games are all about individual players and achievements. remember what Herb Brooks (ok, it was actually Kurt Russell in Miracle) said- the reason that all-star type teams fail (against real teams, that is... ie. the Russians) is because they are about individual players, not the team as a whole (yeah, that was paraphrased). hopefully you get my point... all-star teams don't need captains.

It's a symbolic gesture for guys who have been in the league a long time. Nothing more.

By the way, Team Canada beat the Soviet Union in 1972, 1984 and 1987 with all-star teams. Our all-star teams actually won more series against the Red Army teams than we lost when our strongest players played, and not minor-leaguers. Just thought I'd mention that.

 

[mclean_m]

I've read some ridiculous posts in my day, but this one really has to get an award or something for most inane conspiracy theory ever. Do you actually think Bettman has a plan of ANY kind, let alone an "appease Canada" plan? Come on. You and your friend need a better discussion topic.

As for the choices for captain, I think your assessment of Joe Thornton is off-base, calling him heartless. While I'd admit he has not won or led his to team to victory in "the big game", he's not the guy you are describing either. Aside from being one of the league's top point getters every year, the guy has even won a Hart Trophy. I am actually going to cheer for the Sharks now, in the hopes that some of his naysayers (who have obviously not followed his entire career very closely) will eat their words.

Also, the other players won't care who the captain is, so it will be no "kick in the teeth" to anyone.

Finally, if you wanted more Rangers players in the game, or at least non-Canadiens, you and your friend should have voted more, plain and simple. Canadiens fans care more than Rangers fans or other fans this year (hmmm...they care more...maybe other fans didn't show enough heart). I'm no Habs fan, but I say good on 'em for being organized and doing it their way.

Thank you for finally giving this thread a logical post.

All of the negativity about the hobby, UD, the NHL, and the All-Star game is really getting annoying. Visiting these forums is depressing lately.

 

[Burner]

I've read some ridiculous posts in my day, but this one really has to get an award or something for most inane conspiracy theory ever. Do you actually think Bettman has a plan of ANY kind, let alone an "appease Canada" plan? Come on. You and your friend need a better discussion topic.

As for the choices for captain, I think your assessment of Joe Thornton is off-base, calling him heartless. While I'd admit he has not won or led his to team to victory in "the big game", he's not the guy you are describing either. Aside from being one of the league's top point getters every year, the guy has even won a Hart Trophy. I am actually going to cheer for the Sharks now, in the hopes that some of his naysayers (who have obviously not followed his entire career very closely) will eat their words.

Also, the other players won't care who the captain is, so it will be no "kick in the teeth" to anyone.

Finally, if you wanted more Rangers players in the game, or at least non-Canadiens, you and your friend should have voted more, plain and simple. Canadiens fans care more than Rangers fans or other fans this year (hmmm...they care more...maybe other fans didn't show enough heart). I'm no Habs fan, but I say good on 'em for being organized and doing it their way.

metrags has a deep hatred for the Habs since that 6 goal come from behind win last season. He blames everything that is wrong with the world on the Habs and Habs fans. I'm sure in one of his posts somewhere he blames the Habs for the Gaza war. He's gone as far as calling the most storied franchise in hockey a "disgrace" among other things... it's best you just ignore him. Speaking of which, I'm about to put the ignore feature to use and put him on my ignore list.