Patrick Sharp Kind Of, Sort Of, Not Really An All Star Snub

Published: 13^th Jan 12 5:54 pm

Randy Holt
NHL Network Manager

RANT It!

Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE

I love the day that the All Star Game rosters are announced.

Surfing the internet and browsing the Twittersphere, it’s a whole frenzy of outrage and frustration over which players should have been included or excluded from the star-studded affair.

The Blackhawks are sending three representatives to Ottawa, two of them more deserving than the other. While Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews have been among the best players in the NHL this season, Patrick Kane has struggled mightily of late and likely isn’t entirely deserving of an All Star bid.

But that’s not the point I’m trying to make here. Patrick Sharp was considered one of the bigger snubs for the game in the entire league, and when you look over his numbers, there’s no doubt that he should have been included.

Sharp has 20 goals and 20 assists on the season, which put him in the top 20 for points overall. The only players with more goals and assists are Toews and Toronto’s Phil Kessel.

But Sharp, often the forgotten man of the Hawks roster that features Toews, Kane, and Hossa, didn’t receive an invite to Ottawa. This comes just a year after Sharp was the MVP of last year’s game in Raleigh.

However, according to Jesse Rogers, Sharp wasn’t actually “snubbed”. There’s no doubt that Sharp being excluded from the game would be an outrage, if he was actually excluded.

In fact, Sharp would have been an All Star if not for that whole wrist injury thing. Sharp was injured after scoring a goal against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday, and is expected to miss three or four weeks. He won’t need surgery though.

According to that source, Sharp would have received an invite to the game if he was healthy. He isn’t the only player whose health prevented him from playing later this month. Two players in Edmonton, including star rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, also would have received invites if they were healthy.

As tough as it might be to live in the shadow of the other guys on the roster, though Sharp would never say anything about it, he can take some solace in knowing that he would have received a bid to Ottawa if he was healthy.

Besides, I’m sure Hawks fans would much rather he spend that time getting completely healthy anyway, in preparation for the stretch run.