The NHL took on a slightly different way of playing out their annual all-star classic and after watching Friday night, you have to feel sorry for Phil Kessel.
The Leafs' sniper who could hardly be blamed for his team's misfortunes this year, got picked last during the NHL Fantasy All-star draft.
The final two picks came down to Toronto's Kessel and Colorado's Paul Stastny.
Something new for the league this year, saw two team captains get picked (Eric Staal and Niklas Lidstrom).
Each picked all the players they wanted to have play on their team, like the good old pond hockey style when you go out with a bunch of friends.
The league is going back to its roots this year when it comes to picking teams.
Taking from the way its done on the frozen pond or on the school yard, 20+ players are sitting in the audience while Staal and Lidstrom assemble their desired teams.
For most of it, the big-name players tend to go first, but even Columbus' Rick Nash had to wait the ninth spot. Alexander Ovechkin went third instead of first and Jonathan Toews had to wait until pick number 16 before he found out who's team he was playing for.
Zdeno Chara, the Boston Bruins defenceman, who isn't usually known for having a sense of humour, insisted that "somebody had to be picked last" when asked about how he felt for poor Kessel.
Steven Stamkos of Tampa suggested that Kessel isn't feeling so bad considering the NHL gave him a brand new car seconds after he was picked last.
That would make the Leafs' sniper likely the first person in the history of the best hockey league in the world, to ever win a car before the all-star game even begins; usually the game's MVP gets one for a top performance.
Kessel could have been the only player in history to win 2 new cars; one before the game and one afterwards.
Was Kessel picked last because the general consensus seems to be that he's not having the greatest season, or is it simply because he is a Leaf and anyone voted in from Toronto is looked down upon?For the rest of his career, comparisons will be made between him and Tyler Seguin-the player Toronto gave up in the draft in order to acquire Kessel. It would have been good if he had outplayed everybody else in the all star game the way other players had. The last Leaf to do that well in the all star game was Vincent Damphousse.
As this year's game progressed, it turned out to be a low scoring match. The highest lead margin ended up being four and the final score was 11-10 in favour of Lidstrom's team (the visitors in this game). Team Staal led 4-0 but the lead didn't last long.
Also worthy of note, Carolina (the home/host team) forward Jeff Skinner made history for being the youngest player ever to participate in the all-star fest, at 18 years old.
If there's anything you'd like to see covered by Game 7, please forward your suggestions to the Yorkton This Week sportsdesk by phone (306) 782-2465, fax (306) 786-1898 or email me at jeff@yorkton this week.com
