Sidney Crosby left off roster for NHL All-Star Game
Penguins captain riding 4-game points streak after slow start
Despite a recent turnaround in a disappointing season, Sidney Crosby will miss his 10th NHL All-Star Game in 11 seasons because he wasn't chosen for this year's roster.
The Penguins captain on Wednesday was left off the Metropolitan Division's 10-man roster for the Jan. 31 event in Nashville (5 p.m. ET), leaving centre Evgeni Malkin and defenceman Kris Letang to represent Pittsburgh.
The selection was Malkin's sixth, behind only Mario Lemieux (13) and Jaromir Jagr (nine) among Penguins players with the most all-star appearances. Malkin has 37 points (18-19) this season. Letang has 24 points (4-20) and regularly plays over 25 minutes each game.
Crosby, who extended his points streak to four games (five goals, seven points) in Tuesday night's 3-2 overtime loss to the visiting Chicago Blackhawks, participated in the 2007 All-Star Game, but has missed three others due to injury and five while competing at Olympic tournaments.
All Star is nothing more or less than a promotional & marketing vehicle for the NHL, which is fine, but then how can you not include Crosby?
—@NYP_BrooksieThe 28-year-old centre from Cole Harbour, N.S., has 12 goals and 31 points in 38 games this season. Crosby, who was the league scoring champion in 2013-14 with 104 points, mustered only nine points in his first 18 games this season.
Since his 102-point rookie campaign in 2005-'06, Crosby has averaged over a point per game in every season until this one.
As part of the new format for the 2016 all-star game, players will take part in a three-game tournament, played in a 3-on-3 format, and featuring teams representing each NHL division.
Games will be 20 minutes in length and decided by a shootout if tied at that time.
The skills competition is Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. at Bridgestone Arena.
The Calgary Flames placed forward Johnny Gaudreau and defenceman Mark Giordano on the Pacific Division squad. Also named were forwards Taylor Hall of the Edmonton Oilers and Daniel Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks.
Forward Leo Komarov of the Toronto Maple Leafs and defencemen Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators, and defenceman P.K. Subban of the Montreal Canadiens were named to the Atlantic Division team. Winnipeg defencemen Dustin Byfuglien was named to the Central Division squad.
Sidney Crosby isn't an all-star but Leo Komarov is. Thanks <a href="https://twitter.com/NHL">@NHL</a>
—@chrischilelli01Earlier, fans voted Jagr, now with Florida (Atlantic), Chicago's Patrick Kane (Central), Washington's Alex Ovechkin (Metropolitan) and Arizona's John Scott (Pacific) as the division captains.
All 30 teams have at least one representative.
The four head coaches will be Gerard Gallant of the Florida Panthers (Atlantic), Lindy Ruff of the Dallas Stars (Central), Darryl Sutter of the Los Angeles Kings (Pacific) and Barry Trotz of the Washington Capitals (Metropolitan). The coaches of the teams with the highest points percentage (points earned divided by total possible points) in each of the four divisions through Jan. 9 receive the all-star nods.
Florida, Dallas, Los Angeles and Washington are all guaranteed of posting the top points percentage in their respective divisions.
NHL all-star rosters
Atlantic Division
- F Patrice Bergeron, Boston
- F Jaromir Jagr, Florida*
- F Leo Komarov, Toronto
- F Dylan Larkin, Detroit
- F Ryan O'Reilly, Buffalo
- F Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay
- D Aaron Ekblad, Florida
- D Erik Karlsson, Ottawa
- D P.K. Subban, Montreal
- G Ben Bishop, Tampa Bay
- G Roberto Luongo, Florida
Metropolitan Division
- F Nicklas Backstrom, Washington
- F Claude Giroux, Philadelphia
- F Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh
- F Alex Ovechkin, Washington*
- F Brandon Saad, Columbus
- F John Tavares, NY Islanders
- D Justin Faulk, Carolina
- D Kris Letang, Pittsburgh
- D Ryan McDonagh, NY Rangers
- G Braden Holtby, Washington
- G Cory Schneider, New Jersey
Central Division
- F Jamie Benn, Dallas
- F Matt Duchene, Colorado
- F Patrick Kane, Chicago*
- F Tyler Seguin, Dallas
- F Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis
- F Jonathan Toews, Chicago
- D Dustin Byfuglien, Winnipeg
- D Roman Josi, Nashville
- D Shea Weber, Nashville
- G Devan Dubnyk, Minnesota
- G Pekka Rinne, Nashville
Pacific Division
- F Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary
- F Taylor Hall, Edmonton
- F Joe Pavelski, San Jose
- F Corey Perry, Anaheim
- F John Scott, Arizona*
- F Daniel Sedin, Vancouver
- D Brent Burns, San Jose
- D Drew Doughty, Los Angeles
- D Mark Giordano, Calgary
- G John Gibson, Anaheim
- G Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles
*denotes captain
With files from The Canadian Press