Mid Way Point

All Star Break is upon us (how) and I suppose its time to make our All-Concussion rosters since last night the real All-Stars (minus many "stars") were divided into teams. There were more stars missing this year which I'm 99.9% sure is not the point of this game. Ovi (who never should have made the lineup to begin with) withdrew since he is in the middle of serving a suspension against Zybenek Michalek of the Penguins. If you ask me he never should have had the option of withdrawing, as a suspended player they shouldn't have the ability to even go to game, but it is what it is.

Before we get into the All-Star lineups that were drafted last night and my All-Star Concussion teams, we need to make some notes. James Neal of the Penguins replaced Ovi in the lineup (he deserved to be named originally over Ovi since he's had better numbers all season) and Kris Letang was named to the lineup to replace an injured D-man. The Penguins already had Malkin on the lineup from the original announcement so now they had 3. I for one would be mad if I didn't make the orginal lineup then made plans to head to sunny Florida or SoCal to be later told yes, your an All-Star. I would have passed and I'm starting to think the injury reasons and players asking to not be considered for the game are using this train of thought.

The NFL fixed the need to want to skip by moving their Pro Bowl to the week before the Super Bowl and just replace the All-Stars that are from the teams in the Big Game. Makes way more sense. NO risk of injury for the rest of the season and a chance to rest and relax for a few days. Plus the NFL pay for the guys to hit up Hawaii, not some random city every year. Last year the NHL held their festivities in Carolina where the weather is decent in January. This year they chose Ottawa. In January. Wouldn't you skip too if you had the chance? Per James Neal, no. He had plans in Florida and said his first ASG was more important. What about number 2 sir?

Here are 2 links to the actual ASG lineups. The first is a story about the lines that were drawn in the picking selection (interesting techniques) and the second a picture lineup of the teams because pictures make the world a better place.

There was of course another notable concussion suffered before the break to Danny Briere who hosts a rookie Flyer annually to live in his house and play with his kids (as we saw on 24/7) and needs to now be added to our never ending list. So without further ado, here is the All-Star All-Concussion teams. (Severity, length of time out and star power all played influential roles. Also not all teams have a player on this list since some teams love concussions much more than others. Last note, there are 6 forwards, 6 defensemen and 1 goalie per team. This is due largely in part to number of players to pick from that has suffered from a concussion)

For the naming of the Captains, I chose to pick 2 of the players that have been shelved the longest, thus we have a Savard vs. Crosby showdown (aka Savvy versus Crazy)

Team Savvy

FORWARDS
Marc Savard (he's been out for a year already!)
Nathan Horton (teammates gotta stick together)
Guillaume Latendresse (spelling and pronunciation class are now in session)
Evander Kane (he was forced to the Peg this summer from ATL, he deserves a trip to our imaginary game)
Tyler Kennedy (because he's call the President and everyone needs a leader)

DEFENSEMEN
Chris Pronger (he and Savvy can have a heart to heart about retirement options)
Jay Beagle (he can give his 2 cents on Ovi to rest of the league)
Brayden Scheen (he got a concussion before he scored his first goal. Gotta be a record of some sort)
Nathan Gerbe
Micahel Sauer (brother of Kurt)
Kurt Sauer (brother of Micahel)
Ian Laperriere

GOALIE
James Reimer

Team Crazy

FORWARDS
Sidney Crosby (leader of the crazy train)
Claude Giroux (I would so love Giroux to play with Crosby in real life so in pretend life I can make this happen)
Mike Richards (he needs to remind Giroux that he was traded to a team in SoCal and he's still in Philly in the dead of winter)
Danny Briere (it's a friggin Philly reunion- all aboard)
Milan Michalek (brother of Z)
James Van Riemsdyk (he wanted in on the Philly party and figured a concussion was the fastest way)

DEFENSEMEN
Kris Letang (Crosby needs his friends close)
Marc Staal (he can chat about his yougner bro Jordan with the Penguins
Victor Hedman (Crosby wants anyone who might try to injure him again on his team)
John Michael-Liles (sounds like he should be in a movie like 16 Candles)
Nicklas Backstrom
Zybenek Michalek (brothers gotta stick together!)

GOALIE
Ryan Miller (he and Sid will battle that final goal of the Olympics over and over and over....)

So we have 2 sets of brothers with one of each team. Didn't feel like they should play against each other since we already saw Eric Staal concuss Marc last season and we don't want any more bad Sunday dinner stories.

And though we are on ASG break, teams are still shopping around players and Jeff Carter who was a victim of the Flyers overhaul last season is on the block again. His 10 year contract for just under $6 million a season is not one many teams want to take on but the dying Blue Jackets can't really afford it anymore (since they are holding onto that number with pick with death grips and it's only January). Another notable name that could be up for grabs: Zach Parise. The Devils are financally unstable and they could lose him simply because they can't afford him.