Blues captain Alex Pietranglo, along with Ryan O'Reilly and Jordan Binnington will be representing the St. Louis Blues at the NHL All-Star game hosted in St. Louis this year, and two of the three absolutely belong there. However the NHL made a mistake in selecting one of them.
Alex Pietrangelo has had the best start to a season in his NHL career this year, having scored 10 goals, 21 assists for 31 points in his first 40 games. With his career high in points being 54, he's on pace to absolutely shatter those number. He's already five goals shy of his single season total, and we're just coming up to the halfway point. His defensive play has been superb, even with transitioning different defensive pairings. He's clearly in the conversation for the Norris trophy at the halfway point and he deserves to be representing the Blues at the All-Star game.
Jordan Binnington continues to put his name at the top of the league as one of the best goaltenders in the NHL this year, boasting a 19-6-4 record, he, along with a resurgent Jake Allen, have backstopped the Blues to the top of the Western Conference and top of the NHL. He's a no brainer to represent the Blues in the All-Star game.
The questionable decision is putting Ryan O'Reilly in the All-Star game. He's having a good season, with eight goals, 26 assists for 34 points on the year, but that just ties him with Jaden Schwartz and Brayden Schenn for second on the team in points. He hasn't had the best luck in the goal department this year, and he hasn't had to be as great as he was last year, but there is no question that he shouldn't be the representative for the Blues at the forward position.
Tell me how in the world David Perron is not going to the All-Star game this year? Having the best season of his career, sitting second on the Blues in goals, second in assists, but first in points. He's at a point per game, and he's been the Blues best forward this season, and that's not a stretch.
It's nice to see O'Reilly continuing his strong play into this season, and continuing to show why the trade for him was a steal. It's nice to see a resurgent Schenn and Schwartz, who both had down years last year. However the play of Perron has been spectacular. He's been the overtime hero four times this season, which is a Blues record for most overtime goals in a year. He's consistently been the go to guy when the Blues are desperate for a goal.
When the Blues lost Vladimir Tarasenko to injury just ten games into the season, someone was really going to need to step up offensively, and there's no doubt that the player to do that the most has been Perron.
Every season fans discuss who was "snubbed" from the All-Star game, and this year will be no different. When it comes to the Blues, the biggest snub is undoubtedly, Perron. However all hope is not lost for Perron. Fans have a chance to vote him in as the Centrals final player from January 1st to January 10th on the NHL's website. Be sure to vote if you want to see Perron represent the Blues in St. Louis!
Who do you think should have been represented to the All-Star game but was eventually snubbed?
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