NHL All-Star Game 2012: Gaborik, Girardi and Lundqvist Get Nod; Hagelin Snubbed

The NHL announced the list of players who were selected to participate in the 2012 NHL All-Star Game. On the list, three of the four predicted Ranger All-Stars made the team. Marian Gaborik, Dan Girardi and Henrik Lundqvist all made the team, but rookie Carl Hagelin was snubbed.

Marian Gaborik is off to a great rebound start after an abysmal 2010-11 season. He currently has 23 goals and 34 points. Of his 23 goals, five have come on the power play and five others have been game-winners. It is no surprise to see that the Slovak sniper is headed to Ottawa.

Dan Girardi is one of the most underrated defensemen in the league. Earlier in the year, John Tortorella blasted the league for not even including Girardi on the ballot. Today, after the news was made public, Tortorella was very happy for Girardi and made some joyous comments about the honor.

Tortorella joked,

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"I probably won't play him," so that Girardi is fresh when he returns to the Rangers after the All-Star break.

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Girardi added that he is going to soak in the fanfare of the moment.

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'It's a pretty big honor, and, to be honest, I would have never really thought that I'd be an All Star,' said Girardi, who leads all NHL players by averaging 27:18 worth of ice time per game. 'It's more of a high-skill, high-pace game, and that's not really my game, but I'll do my best out there. But I think it's great. It's a pretty cool honor, I think, and it's good to get some recognition.'

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It is truly great to see Girardi rewarded and recognized for his stellar play. He was a sound defenseman and great leader in Marc Staal's absence. His value to the team couldn't have been more evident during the first 40 games of the season.

This All-Star game will also mark the third time that Lundqvist was named an All-Star. Lundqvist is currently 7-0-0 in his last seven starts and has an overall record of 19-7-4 with a 1.85 GAA and a .939 save percentage. 

The latter has put Lundqvist first in the NHL amongst starting goaltenders. Out of all the Rangers, he was the most obvious one to earn a spot.

There is one player, though, who was predicted to make the All-Rookie team and that was Carl Hagelin. Hagelin has only played 22 games so far, but he has seven goals and five assists for 12 points. He has also been a top penalty killer for the Rangers and has averaged 12:46 minutes a game.

Sean Courturier, on the other hand, has 13 points through 37 games and is averaging less time than Hagelin. He took the place of Hagelin on the roster. In the NHL.com prediction, Courturier was left off the roster but Hagelin was included.

While it is not a very big deal, it would have been nice to see Hagelin recognized considering he could have competed in the fastest skater portion of the skills competition.

Regardless, the Rangers are the best team in the league right now and are playing great hockey. It is great to see the team recognized for its outstanding play thus far. 

Tom Urtz Jr. is an NHL Featured Columnist. For NHL news, updates and alerts about players: