New York Rangers: Torts Blasts League over Girardi All-Star Ballot Snub

After a gratifying 5-1 defeat of the Carolina Hurricanes fiery Rangers bench boss John Tortorella was addressing the media in his regular postgame conference. Most of the questions addressed the success of Sean Avery, Brandon Dubinsky and various other players who had a significant impact on the game.

The next question, however, struck a cord with Tortorella. He was asked how he felt about the snub of star defenseman Dan Girardi from the league’s All-Star ballot.

Tortorella quickly scoffed, 

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"Oh, this league," said Tortorella, waving his hand in disgust. "It's because he's not pedigree. There's no pedigree there. Our league is so ass-backwards when it comes to that. It's not just this year that he's been underrated. This guy has been a really good player. But if you don't have the pedigree in this league, they don't look at you.” —courtesy of Andrew Gross at Ranger Rants

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It will of course sound biased, but I agree with Tortorella. I find it hard that the league couldn’t amend the ballot to remove Marc Staal’s name and add Girardi’s in his place. In case you feel that my siding with Torts is a bit biased, here are some cold hard facts that defend having Girardi on the ballot.

1. Girardi Leads NHL in Ice Time

Girardi currently leads the league in ice time by clocking an average of 27:46 per game. This number of minutes each and every night can be taxing on a defenseman. Despite going through the exhaustion of almost 30:00 a game, Girardi has remained smart in his own zone and his +7 plus/minus rating is good enough for 11th overall amongst defenseman

2. Girardi Has Exceeded All Expectations

Dan Girardi was expected to be a nobody. Girardi went undrafted and the Rangers decided to take a chance on the Welland, Ontario native. He played his way up through the AHL and made the Rangers squad and has been a mainstay for the past four seasons.

3. Girardi Is Best Shot Blocker In The NHL

In The Hockey News’ most recent special issue The Greatest Things in Hockey, Girardi was named the league’s best shot blocker by receiving 28.2 percent of the vote. Girardi is a warrior and takes a beating every night when he throws his body and caution to the wind. 

4. He Has Gone Unrecognized for Too Long 

In an interview with Jim Cerny, Rangers beat writer and operator of Blueshirts United, Torts had this to say about Girardi.

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"He's turned into an All-Star player. He does everything. That's the simplest way to put it. He does everything there is for us, and he's the most underrated defenseman in the league. You see him on the bench always talking with (Ryan McDonagh). He's a real settling influence, and he plays through injuries (no one) knows about all the time. He wants to make a difference." 

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No matter how you slice it, Girardi is a good player who has earned his stripes in the league. He may not win the popularity contest when going up against players like Nicklas Lidstrom, Shea Weber, Zdeno Chara, Drew Doughty, etc, but he deserves to be recognized by having his name on the ballot.

Tomorrow the polls open for All-Star Game voting. Be sure to write in Dan Girardi’s name and hopefully he can get added to the ballot. Larry Brooks of the New York Post noted that the NHL's Hockey Operations Department could add Girardi to the event if he keeps up his great play.

Also be sure to check out Kevin DeLury at the New York Rangers’ Blog where he has some words to say about the Girardi write in campaign.

You can also like the Facebook Fan Page Dan Girardi for the 2012 All-Star Game 

Voting Information

You can vote for Girardi an unlimited amount of times through the NHL’s online ballot, by texting Girardi to the 81812 (Message and data rates may apply) or through the mobile ballot available on iPhone, Android and other smart phone devices.

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