Thursday, January 18, 2007

Snubbed: Why Isn't Alex Semin A YoungStar?

The NHL will hold it's YoungStars game next week in Dallas and you may be wondering why Alex Semin isn't going to be there.

Is it because he's not young enough? That's clearly not it, as he is only 22-year-old, younger than at least five players named to the team.

Is it because he's not good enough? That's clearly not it, as he has more goals (25) than any player named to the team and more points (44) than all but one. In fact, Sasha has more goals than all but five of the All-Stars.

Is it because his Caps teammate Mike Green was named to the team? That's clearly not it, as three Pens, two Sens and two Avs are on the rosters.

Is it because the game is limited to players on their entry-level contracts? That's clearly not it, as LCS Hockey correctly points out that neither is Eastern Conference YoungStar goalie Kari Lehtonen. Nor is Western Conference goalie Peter Budaj.

So why isn't Semin a YoungStar? If you can figure it out, let me know - I clearly have no idea.

4 comments:

Sonia said...

i could be wrong, but don't you have still to be on your entry-level contract to play in the youngstars game? semin has a big boy contract now.

JP said...

That's what I'd thought as well, and it seemed the only valid reason - until I realized that Lehtonen and Budaj are both on "big boy contracts" now too. If they waived it for a couple of goalies, why not for a top-10 goal scorer?

faux rumors said...

1) Its a silly concept anyway as the games 2 best players ARE younger than almost all of the "Young Stars"
2) That said, Semin got the shaft/screwed.

Hockey Amor said...

I think it's because he's playing like a mature player, scoring and backchecking (although those power-play point fakes scare me big time).