Patrick Sharp Should Not Have Been Left off of the NHL All Star Ballot

If I told you that there was a player left off of the All-Star ballot who tied for the league lead in short-handed goals last season, and so far this season is second in the NHL in points and second in goals scored, you would ask me “what is the league’s deal? Why is this guy not there?”

Well, that guy’s name is Patrick Sharp, and folks, it is a travesty that he is not on the All-Star ballot.

This isn’t my bias as a Blackhawks fan talking. I would be more than happy if Sharp’s name appeared on the ballot instead of Jonathan Toews, who has yet to even score a goal this season. Judging by Sharp’s statistics from both this year and last, there is no way that you can convince me that a player of his caliber should not be recognized and put on the ballot.

Now, I know that odds are that Mr. Sharp will be at the All-Star festivities this season even if he doesn’t win the fan vote to be there. The NHL is not going to ignore a player with his credentials, especially one who is playing in a city where hockey is just starting to make a legitimate comeback, and one who has become known for his penchant for short-handed goals.

I’m not ignorant enough to think that Sharp’s name not being on the ballot would result in him not being “eligible” for the team. My contention is that being listed on the NHL All-Star ballot is not just giving the fans an opportunity to make their voices heard. It is about recognizing the key contributors to a league still recovering from the devastating lockout of a few years ago.

Leaving Sharp’s name off, while putting on “marquee names” like Mike Modano, Joe Sakic, and Jonathan Toews, is an insult not only to him, but to the city of Chicago, which has fallen in love with the purveyor of “Sharp’s Shorties.”

My emotions on this issue are not the only thing that I have to bolster my case. The old axiom goes something like “numbers don’t lie.” With that in mind, I compiled a list of all 29 forwards who are on the ballot from the Western Conference, and I made a list of seven key statistics. These stats include goals, assists, plus/minus, PIM, power play goals, short-handed goals, and game-winning goals.

Author’s note: If you want this list to be emailed to you, just email me at [e-mail]

Of the seven left wingers on the ballot, Sharp had more goals than five of them. He had a better plus/minus than all of them except for Zetterberg. He had more penalty minutes than three of them and tied Dustin Brown with 55. He obviously had more short-handed goals than all six players, and had more game winning goals than five of them and tied Daniel Sedin, with seven.

If you want to focus instead on his center credentials, he had a good season compared to them as well. He had more goals than all 17 centers on the ballot. He had a better plus/minus than 15 of the 17 (only Ryan Getzlaf and Pavel Datsyuk were better). He had more power play goals than 10 of the centers. He also had more game-winning goals and short-handed goals than all 17 centers.

When you expand it to all 31 forwards on the ballot, he stacks up just as well. He scored more goals than 26 of them. He had a better plus/minus than 26 of them. He had more penalty minutes than 20 of them. He had more power play goals than 15 of them. He also had more game winning goals than 26 of them.

So what do all of these numbers tell us? For starters, it tells us that he can stack up favorably with both centers and left wingers in the Western Conference. It also tells us that the NHL is going merely for big-name players, and ignoring the contributions of those who maybe aren’t as popular and are statistically superior to others.

I understand that most of the players are on this list because they are representatives of their respective teams, and I also understand that if Patrick Sharp is having a good statistical season when the All-Star rosters are named, he will make the team. What I don’t understand is why the NHL insists that they have a huge ballot full of names, when in reality not everyone on the list is qualified to be in the All-Star game (Modano, Sakic) and people like Patrick Sharp are left off of it.

This is not to say that the NHL is completely off-base when it comes to its All-Star selection process. This season marks the first time that any major sports league will keep real-time vote totals online for people to see. With the game being played in arguably the most famous city in the NHL (Montreal), there is going to be a tremendous amount of interest in the game.

Patrick Sharp demonstrated last year—as well as so far this year—that he belongs in this elite class of players that make up the All-Star ballot. His stats stack up favorably with those on the ballot, and his grit and determination on the ice and his quiet, unassuming demeanor off of it are things that the NHL should embrace.

Instead, by keeping people like Patrick Sharp off of the ballot, the NHL is going the baseball route by promoting its most famous players, not the ones that are statistically deserving of the All-Star Game. I hope that in the future the NHL will examine this issue and make some tweaks to the names that appear on the All-Star ballot.

So I ask of each of you, if you are a fan of the Blackhawks, or even just a fan of the game of hockey, please let the NHL know that you feel the same way that I do. Please put a write-in vote on your All-Star ballots for Patrick Sharp. He deserves the recognition of the league, and it is my hope that the fans of the NHL will feel the same way I do.