Streit's an All-Star: Deal with It (*This Post Has Been Medically Cleared)

There's some discussion today about how significant All-Star snubs wouldn't have to be snubbed if the NHL didn't desire to have every team represented at the Winter Not-So Classic. Fingers are being directly or indirectly pointed at the New York Islanders for being an example of a crummy team that still gets an All-Star at the expense of, for example, Mike Green.

I love Green. Second year of plying his trade ridiculously well on my fantasy team. He's obviously an All-Star-caliber player, and it's a shame he won't be in Montreal. But you know what I have to say to those who blame the Islanders for his or anyone else's exclusion?

Not this year.

Mark Streit is a legitimate All-Star. His attendance should not be attributed solely to being the best player on his team or having a decent season on a bad team. Yes, the Islanders have sent that sort to the All-Star Game in the past. Not this time. The numbers and impact are all over the place so I won't repeat them. If you are an Islanders fan, this is an All-Star selection you should be proud of.

And not that the selection of Doug Weight wouldn't have been deserved and applauded, but Streit being named is an even better reflection on the organization. Getting Weight to New York was an important and laudable (and relatively easy) move by Garth Snow. But getting Streit and committing to him was shrewd. It's best for the Islanders to be represented by a new arrival who will be a key cog for years to come than by a new arrival who's in his twilight, as bright as it has been, and may be around for only a couple of more months.

Give the rest of the league a chance to say, "Look at this guy the Islanders got," now and for the next four years.

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I want my prize back for saying that Rick DiPietro would not play again until 2009 (what do you mean there was no prize?). Yes, technically, he did return in 2008. But with Yann Danis being shot from Bridgeport to Calgary on a giant rubber band, DiPietro's December 2008 surfacing was hardly a recovery.

The good news is that no one is counting on DiPietro to lead the Islanders to the playoffs. That's not an indictment of DiPietro, but merely a matter of mathematics. So I won't be getting too agitated about his continuing lack of good health. Not this season, anyway. DiPietro should just do whatever is necessary to completely recover—this has to be maddening for him.

I do hear DiPietro and Danis have discussed teaming up with Schwarzeneggar and Van Damme for a sequel to Sudden Death called Emergency Recall.