NHL All-Star Game: All-Star Rookies

Forget about All-Star veterans like Nicklas Lidstrom or Jarome Iginla.

We are going to talk about the rookies—the guys who are trying to make a name for themselves in the NHL All-Star history.

Many are replacements for other players who turn down the chance to play or are injured, but the opportunity and experience to play in their first NHL All-Star Game is far and away the greatest honor for any NHLer.

Anchoring the New York Islanders in goal with a 19-16-6 record alongside a 2.54 GAA, .913 SV%, and two shutouts, Rick DiPietro is a rookie to the All-Star extravaganza.

With fellow first-time All-Star Tim Thomas alongside him, both Thomas and DiPietro know that they are part of something spectacular in Atlanta this coming weekend.

Thomas leads the NHL with a .927 SV% and has been one of the most consistent Boston Bruins so far this season on a squad with multiple injuries to top scorers.

Thomas will be joined by Bruins teammate Marc Savard, who is second in the NHL with 43 assists.

Despite this league-leading stat, Savard is only a replacement for Ottawa Senators Dany Heatley, bidding much wonder on how the NHL could pass up such a prominent and dominant setup man as Savard.

Another initial snubbed candidate, Anaheim Ducks’ Corey Perry, who also will be making his first All-Star appearance, is another seeming blunder at the selection process of this year’s All-Stars.

The forward currently has 26 goals, good for the top 10 in NHL scoring, yet did not get the initial invitation to this year’s big game in Atlanta.

Perry’s Western Conference teammate and fellow rookie All-Star replacement, Mike Ribeiro, must feel the same resentment; he leads the Dallas Stars with 22 goals yet was initially snub.

Though Ribeiro may be one of many young guns playing in the All-Star Game, Sidney Crosby’s replacement and fellow Penguin teammate Evgeni Malkin will be the youngest in Atlanta at 21-years-old.

Malkin’s 26 goals and 30 assists make him another head scratcher for hockey fans.

Not to be outdone, Philadelphia’s Mike Richards, who leads the Flyers with 21 goals and 34 assists, will be making his first trip to the All-Star Game also as a replacement.

This is another well-deserved trip to Atlanta, as Richards is playing great, consistent hockey on a team that has been up and down all season.

On the other hand, Anze Kopitar’s Los Angeles Kings have been anything but up and down. It has been a mostly down season for the Kings, but without Mike Cammalleri in the lineup, first time All-Star Kopitar has stepped up his play.

The 6’4 center from Slovenia has 18 goals and 27 assists through 50 games.

The defense on both teams will all being be making their first All-Star appearance.

Montreal Canadiens Andrei Markov has stepped forward and become an All-Star with 11 goals and 22 assists this season; a year after Sheldon Souray was the team’s most productive defensemen and All-Star candidate the previous two years.

Another first time All-Star defenseman, Duncan Keith, has been solid on defense for the Chicago Blackhawks this season with 5 goals and 12 assists.

Lastly, but definitely not the least, the All-Star rookies are the Ducks’ Ryan Getzlaf and the Canucks’ Henrik Sedin.

Getzlaf has continued his inspired play from last year’s playoff run by scoring 19 goals and adding on 38 assists. His 24 power play points makes him one of the top power play men in the NHL.

While one Sedin brother is going to the All-Star game, the other will not. Henrik has 9 goals and 40 assists through 49 games on a scoring-deprived Canucks squad.

Rookie or not, all these players will be figuring in on the scoring at some point in Atlanta.