2011 NHL All-Star Game: Brad Richards, Loui Eriksson Selected

by Pat Iversen on Jan 11, 2011 12:10 PM CST in Dallas Stars News

For the sixth consecutive year, the Dallas Stars will have multiple representatives in the NHL All-Star game. Brad Richards and Loui Eriksson were selected as two of 42 other players to play in the game on Sunday, January 30th in North Carolina.

I think we all knew that Brad Richards would make his way onto the roster somehow. The guy is among the league leaders in almost every offensive category, and is by far and away the Stars best player this season.

No, the real question was whether Loui Eriksson would make the squad. He's having an outstanding year, nearly as good stats-wise as Richards, and is in the top-ten in the league in assists, points and plus/minus. And yet, he's still one of the most underrated and under-publicized players in the league.

I think if this year were like any other All-Star vote, Loui wouldn't have made it. But thankfully this one wasn't up to the fans. Instead, the NHL's Hockey Operations Department made the right choice in naming Loui to the roster.

You'll notice that Stephane Robidas did not make the list, but I for one am not complaining. He deserves some time to rest, honestly.

Press release and full list of players after the jump....

FRISCO, Tex. -- Dallas Stars forwards Loui Eriksson and Brad Richards have been named as two of the 42 players selected to participate in the 2011 NHL All-Star Game and Weekend, to be held at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, it was announced by the league today.

The 42 All-Stars will play in the 2011 NHL All-Star Game presented by Discover on Sunday, Jan. 30 at the RBC Center, home of the Carolina Hurricanes. Each team will be comprised of three goalies, six defensemen and 12 forwards and will have one captain and two alternates to be chosen by the players and announced next week. All of the players will participate in the Honda NHL SuperSkills® on Saturday, Jan. 29 at the RBC Center.

Eriksson, 25, has appeared in all 43 games for Dallas this season, scoring 16 goals and 30 assists for 46 points with a +17 plus/minus rating. Among league leaders, he ranks sixth in assists, eighth in points and eighth in plus/minus. Eriksson has the fifth-most points in the Western Conference this season. He has played in 259 consecutive games dating back to Dec. 7, 2007. This will mark Eriksson's first All-Star appearance.

Richards, 30, ranks fifth in the NHL in assists (31), sixth in points (49), and 11th in goals (18), appearing in all 43 Stars games this season with a +9 plus/minus rating. He has the third-most points among Western Conference players this season, including points in 21 of his last 28 games (12 goals, 17 assists). Richards has 11 multiple-point games this season, including four, three-point efforts.

Eriksson and Richards have helped lead Dallas to a 25-13-5 record thus far on the 2010-11 season, good for first place in the Pacific Division.

This marks the sixth consecutive NHL All-Star Game for Dallas to have multiple players named to play in the game.

The NHL, working in conjunction with the National Hockey League Players' Association, replaced the traditional conference vs. conference format for the All-Star teams with a player draft that will determine the team rosters for the 2011 NHL All-Star Game presented by Discover, as well as the Honda NHL SuperSkills. The Jan. 28 NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft powered by Cisco will be televised live nationwide on VERSUS in the U.S. at 7 p.m. CT from NHL Fan Fair at the Raleigh Convention Center.

The 2011 NHL All-Star Game presented by Discover will mark the first time Carolina has hosted NHL All-Star activities.The League's mid-season spectacular will take place Saturday, Jan. 29 and Sunday, Jan. 30, and will include the Honda NHL SuperSkills and the 58th NHL All-Star Game presented by Discover at the RBC Center. Live television coverage of both nights will be provided by VERSUS in the U.S. The Honda SuperSkills will begin at 6 p.m. CT on Saturday, and the 2011 NHL All-Star Game presented by Discover will start at 3 p.m. CT on Sunday.
Below are the additional All-Stars named today with Eriksson and Richards:

Forwards
Corey Perry - Anaheim Ducks
Jarome Iginla - Calgary Flames
Eric Staal - Carolina Hurricanes
Patrick Kane - Chicago Blackhawks
Patrick Sharp - Chicago Blackhawks
Jonathan Toews - Chicago Blackhawks
Matt Duchene - Colorado Avalanche
Rick Nash - Columbus Blue Jackets
Loui Eriksson - Dallas Stars
Brad Richards - Dallas Stars
Ales Hemsky - Edmonton Oilers
Anze Kopitar - Los Angeles Kings
Patrik Elias - New Jersey Devils
Claude Giroux - Philadelphia Flyers
Sidney Crosby - Pittsburgh Penguins
Evgeni Malkin - Pittsburgh Penguins
David Backes - St. Louis Blues
Steven Stamkos - Tampa Bay Lightning
Martin St. Louis - Tampa Bay Lightning
Phil Kessel - Toronto Maple Leafs
Ryan Kesler - Vancouver Canucks
Henrik Sedin - Vancouver Canucks
Daniel Sedin - Vancouver Canucks
Alex Ovechkin - Washington Capitals

Defensemen
Dustin Byfuglien - Atlanta Thrashers
Tobias Enstrom - Atlanta Thrashers
Zdeno Chara - Boston Bruins
Duncan Keith - Chicago Blackhawks
Niklas Lidstrom - Detroit Red Wings
Brent Burns - Minnesota Wild
Shea Weber - Nashville Predators
Marc Staal - New York Rangers
Erik Karlsson - Ottawa Senators
Kris Letang - Pittsburgh Penguins
Dan Boyle - San Jose Sharks
Mike Green - Washington Capitals

Goaltenders
Jonas Hiller - Anaheim Ducks
Tim Thomas - Boston Bruins
Cam Ward - Carolina Hurricanes
Carey Price - Montreal Canadiens
Henrik Lundqvist - New York Rangers
Marc-Andre Fleury - Pittsburgh Penguins

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Comments

I wouldn't be super-surprised...

…if Robidas was picked and he declined. He does have a foot injury.

by Sugaa on Jan 11, 2011 12:15 PM CST reply actions

Well done lads!

Fully deserved by these two, be interesting if they line up against eachother.

Can imagine fans turning up and hearing Eriksson’s name being called out and turning to eachother and going “who?!”

Richards deserved this years ago, nice feeling he’s gonna do it with the Stars :)

by Great British Stars Fan on Jan 11, 2011 12:17 PM CST reply actions

im happy loui made it

GET OFF NIEUWENDYK'S NUTS

by 8thegreat on Jan 11, 2011 12:20 PM CST reply actions

How does everyone feel about the whole All-Star game thing?

I usually enjoy the skills competition more than the game itself.

It will be nice having a couple of guys to root for.

With the picking of the teams by captains there’s no guarantee they’ll even be together.

Defending Big D

by Brad Gardner on Jan 11, 2011 12:44 PM CST reply actions

I like it personally.

Nice change of pace, and we’ll see where it goes from there.

Jerry Jones...making Tom Hicks blush.

by bigtill2002 on Jan 11, 2011 1:02 PM CST up reply actions

All Star games are boring for me

I always love watching the skills comp though.

The new format where captains pick teams is pretty cool though. It will be interesting who picks Brad and Loui.

The most Southwesterly Dallas Stars fan in the continental U.S.A.

by ibsurfer91932 on Jan 11, 2011 1:06 PM CST up reply actions

The one thing I don’t like, and I kinda saw the league doing it after the first 6 guys were named, and that is all teams aren’t represented in the game itself. I believe its Buffalo, Phoenix, NYI, & Florida that don’t have a guy in the all star game. And I think there are plenty of guys in the game that could easily be replaced by guys from those 4 teams.

by chris1989 on Jan 11, 2011 1:11 PM CST up reply actions

The way that I heard it when they first announced the new format, was that all the teams would be represented

However, some of them would probably end up on the “Rookies” team – which is where the Sabres, Islanders, Panthers, and Coyotes guys all end up.

Dallas Stars, #1 in the Pacific Division!

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@TracyJean: Twitter account

by TracyJean on Jan 11, 2011 1:36 PM CST up reply actions

Here is the complete list, including the rookies, from NHL.com

http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=66980

Dallas Stars, #1 in the Pacific Division!

TracyJean1972: YouTube channel
@TracyJean: Twitter account

by TracyJean on Jan 11, 2011 1:37 PM CST up reply actions

Yea I just thought they would get at least one person from each into the actual game, I mean guys like Grabner and Ekman-Larsson don’t really represent the Isles/Coyotes compared to other guys on those teams and they could replace guys on the current roster.

by chris1989 on Jan 11, 2011 7:30 PM CST up reply actions

Also like skills competition more than the game.

But they are both okay.
When I was way younger, the game was really big thing, but now not so much.

by Henri Muroke on Jan 11, 2011 1:42 PM CST up reply actions

I'm glad they're trying something different, but I don't know if it's enough to make me watch it.

And if the team captain is smart he’ll take Loui and Richards together. 2/3 of a team’s top line? Hello?

by Sugaa on Jan 11, 2011 3:16 PM CST up reply actions

As for the Stars' guys who made it....

YEA LOUI! YEA B-RAD!

I figured Brad would definitely be in, but Loui would probably be “on the bubble”, so to speak, because he is so underappreciated. As for Robi, I’m disappointed (he was one of the guys who played for us in Montreal in 2009), but with him having an injury right now, I could see him wanting to take a few days break even if he was asked to be on the All-Star roster.

It’s too bad there was no All-Star game last year – I’m sure Benn would have been named as a Rookie if there had been. Darn.

Dallas Stars, #1 in the Pacific Division!

TracyJean1972: YouTube channel
@TracyJean: Twitter account

by TracyJean on Jan 11, 2011 1:44 PM CST reply actions

Also, I don't know if this applies to Robidas or not,

but Brendan Shanahan posted the following on Twitter about the NHL being approached by some GMs about leaving certain players off the team because they needed time to heal from injuries.

Dallas Stars, #1 in the Pacific Division!

TracyJean1972: YouTube channel
@TracyJean: Twitter account

by TracyJean on Jan 11, 2011 3:11 PM CST reply actions

Well deserved

Loui and Brad! I would have been upset if they weren’t picked.

However, I think some of those picks are a joke. I’ve gotta agree with some other teams and be a little upset. For instance, despite me hating the Red Wings, only Lidstrom is going? Zetterberg is well deserving. And I like Patty Kane, but he does not deserve to go this year. And frankly not singly player from NJ deserves to go, although if anyone was picked they picked the right guy. He’s been the best player on the team, but still. Come on. And as much as I dislike Philly, I can’t believe Giroux is the only one going from that roster. No Mike Richards? (Our Richards is way better!!)

You’ve gotta think the only reason for some of these snubs is purely for health reasons where their teams begged them not to get picked, but I remember Bettman being super pissy about that last year, forcing Zetterberg (i think) to sit out 1 game for missing the ASG.

Oh, and Marc Staal? Really? Really? Wow. Let’s just get Cal Clutterbuck in the game too, then.

I guess there is just absolutely no way to make everyone happy, though, but for god’s sack Marc Staal? lol.

@G_Rees

by GRees on Jan 11, 2011 4:35 PM CST reply actions

Some of the snubs were pretty bad.

Zetterberg is the most obvious, probably. Well, him and Bobby Lu (which is funny because he’s prominently displayed in the commercial I’ve been seeing). And as much as I love Chicago, Kaner shouldn’t be there this year. And it is surprising that the other team in the SCF only ended up with one representative. I don’t like Philly either, but they are a strong team this year and that they only have one player going is pretty bad.

And Marc Staal? Did they forget Eric is the only Staal that plays in Carolina? As much as I like Cam Ward, I wonder if the only reason he got in is because he plays in Carolina. There are a couple other goalies I can think of who are probably more deserving.

As for NJ, they had to name someone, and since they don’t have any rookies that they could shove into that category, it was probably going to be either Elias or Parise.

And here’s the story about the 2009 All-Star game. they were threatened with a 1-game suspension if they didn’t participate after being named to the team, if they played in their team’s last game before the All-Star break. Lindstrom and Datsyuk sat out Detroit’s last game before the break to avoid being suspended, and then Crosby was told not to participate by team’s doctor, but still had to show up for the ASG festivities to avoid being suspended.

Dallas Stars, #1 in the Pacific Division!

TracyJean1972: YouTube channel
@TracyJean: Twitter account

by TracyJean on Jan 11, 2011 4:55 PM CST up reply actions

Brendan Shanahan has tweeted that considerations were made for people who had nagging injuries, etc.

I think Zetterberg’s hurt and Bobby Lu’s wife just had a baby.

by Sugaa on Jan 11, 2011 5:22 PM CST up reply actions

I think they need to just name these guys anyway

to make the fans happy and the sub them out like they do in the NFL. It’s not that big of a deal of someone needs to sit out bc of injuries or what have, but at least mention them I say. Isn’t the ASG supposed to be all about the fans anyways? Let them have what they want.

@G_Rees

by GRees on Jan 11, 2011 5:39 PM CST up reply actions

I agree.

I guess they were just trying to avoid embarrasment for the league if they named the all-star roster and 5 of them publically begged off. It’s also possible that some ailments haven’t been publically disclosed.

by Sugaa on Jan 11, 2011 10:44 PM CST up reply actions

Well, in Bobby Lu's case, why put him in the commercial, then?

It’s not like they didn’t know for the last few months that his wife was pregnant and due in January (unless there are medical issues making him want to stay home with them – I hope not).

Dallas Stars, #1 in the Pacific Division!

TracyJean1972: YouTube channel
@TracyJean: Twitter account

by TracyJean on Jan 12, 2011 12:29 AM CST up reply actions

I dunno...

Who knows when they made the commercial. Maybe they didn’t know. Maybe they showed the final product to the NHL and they’re like “you know he’s not coming…oh to hell with it.”

by Sugaa on Jan 12, 2011 8:08 AM CST up reply actions