By Allan Brown
Let me get right to the point of this column.
Brayden Point, that is.
Quite simply put, the Lightning's top goal scorer was robbed when it came to inclusion on the NHL's All-Star team.
Announced Wednesday evening, both Captain Steven Stamkos and winger Nikita Kucherov made the cut.
And, rightfully so, especially in Kuch's case, as he leads the League in both assists and points.
However, under the League's more-than-slightly flawed system, where every team must have a player on the All-Star roster, Point was left out in the cold.
To some extent, so was netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy.
While Vasy's exclusion was bad, though could be slightly defended because he was out for a month with a broken foot and his goals against average since returning is a slightly-bloated, 2.59 (still better than most who were put on the All-Star roster) he still should have been chosen over Cary Price and Jimmy Howard, both of whom's numbers aren't exactly great. Point's being left off the roster, though, is downright criminal.
While I understand the League's thinking on this subject, I don't agree with it.
Stamkos is a hotter and more well-known commodity who had a tremendous December, netting 14 goals.
Point, however, has had the better season (leading the team in goals a statistic that is good for 11th place in the League) and isn't that the point of the All-Star game - to have the best players in that 'given' season attend the event?
Not that I wouldn't vote Stamkos to the team too, though if only two Bolts could be included in the event, Point would be the one I would choose.
And, the Lightning aren't alone in this debacle, as star players who are performing at an All-Star clip such as Toronto's Mitch Marner, Dallas' Ben Bishop and Pittsburgh's Kris Letang, were also denied invites to the dance.
I get it, no process which allows a group to randomly select members is going to be entirely objective or perfect, I definitely think this NHL inclusion process needs some reform.
I would at least allow NHL fans to choose three - ideally four - players from each division, rather than the current procedure where voters only get to choose one.
While fans do get an opportunity to now select one more player in each division in the League's newly implemented 'Last Man In,' fan vote, it is simply not enough.
That's because the fans actually usually get it right and certainly did this year in choosing Toronto's Auston Matthews, Washington's Alex Ovechkin, Edmonton's Connor McDavid and Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon as division captains.
The NHL has a hugely loyal fanbase who want to see the best players in any given season at the annual classic, not necessarily the most popular.
This current selection process does not do that and certainly does not allow the best players to date to participate in the All-Star game and to get their chance to show fans that they are not only great, but have what it takes to be big stars in the NHL.
While it would be nice to think the League might gain some more followers through this contest, I would wager most non-NHL fans would be content to see who is having a real All-Star season as opposed to seeing those who hockey purists already know are destined for the Hockey Hall of Fame someday.
Although in the every cloud has a silver lining stream of thought, the only possible good thing to come from some of these exclusions is that those not invited to participate will have close to a week to rest and shore up for a playoff run in the waning weeks of the 2018-19 NHL campaign.
