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James Neal makes the All-Star Game. Finally!

January 25, 2012, 12:27 PM ET [145 Comments]
John Toperzer
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Fleury Give St. Louis the Blues on Tuesday with 3-2 Shootout Win

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If you are interested in a fantasy All-Star Game contest, email me at [email protected] for details. It should be a blast, based upon the banter of our fantasy hockey league. The contest is open to everyone. We may do a $5 fee via PayPal, winner take all. What do you think? Send me an email. [email protected]

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The 2012 NHL draft in Pittsburgh isn’t too far away. A listing of the current prospect rankings can be found here.

Nail Yukupov, of the OHL’s Sarnia Sting, could return as soon as Friday from a knee injury suffered during the gold medal game of the World Juniors on Jan. 5. He’s expected to go first overall in the draft.

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Wouldn’t it be something if James Neal turned down his All-Star selection? Nah, a Penguins player wouldn’t do that without a good excuse.

Think about it. The NHL nearly kept the second-overall goal scorer, top power-play goal scorer, and general Robin to Evgeni Malkin’s Batman out of its showcase. That’s unfathomable, on principle alone.

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Washington owner, Ted Leonsis, pats himself on the back for his coaching change on Ted’s Take. Edit: He was actually writing about his basketball team. Stick tap to MadCap2008 for the catch.

The Caps’ Mathieu Perreault must have read Leonsis’s plea for scoring in his Tuesday blog. The centerman scored three of his season’s seven goals in a 5-3 win over Boston last night.

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The Penguins dodged a major bullet in their quest for two points Tuesday when Matt Cooke was called for boarding with 79 seconds remaining in regulation of a 2-2 game. So much for swallowing the whistle and letting the players decide the outcome. Did Cooke deserve the penalty? Does he deserve a suspension? Will he get a suspension?

Cooke now has 16 points (7, 9) and 16 penalty minutes in 49 games. Last year, Cooke compiled 30 points and 129 PIMs in 67 contests.

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How important are peripheral statistics for goalies? Marc-Andre Fleury has the lowest save percentage (.913) of any top 20 netminder. It goes to show that there’s more to winning than simply goalie numbers.

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I’m not sure how many defensemen are headed to Ottawa for the All-Star festivities, but it would be fair to say that some that have played full seasons are just as deserving, or moreso, than Kris Letang. There are 24 blueliners with more points than Letang. Would I want any of those 24 instead of Letang? Probably not, but that’s a different question.

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Jaromir Jagr is 60th in the NHL scoring race with 34 points in 40 games and is battling a groin injury. There’s no denying he’s fit in well with Claude Giroux, but his penchant for the dreaded “lower-body injury” is the big reason why I am glad he’s not with the Pens.

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The Flyers lead the NHL with 11 players totaling 20 points or more. The Penguins check in with eight, while the Columbus Blue Jackets only have four.

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James Neal scored his 100th NHL goal Tuesday. Can he get to 200 before season’s end?

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A link to the preseason prediction thread can be found here. Lots of interesting predictions.

My prediction of 31 James Neal goals looks low now.

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Treasure Life!
JT
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