The 62nd All Star Weekend was held in Los Angeles from Friday 27 - Sunday 29 January 2017. Sidney Crosby was chosen as captain of the Metro division, and was one of two Penguins players chosen to represent the Pittsburgh Penguins. Evgeni Malkin, the other representative, ultimately had to pull out of the event after sustaining an injury against the St. Louis Blues on 24 January 2017.
The All Star game was won by the Metro division, with Philadelphia Flyers player, Wayne Simmonds, voted as MVP.
Sidney Crosby[]
The 2017 ASG event was notable for being only the second All Star appearance by Sidney Crosby through his 11-year NHL career. Crosby, yet again, displayed why he is the best in the world. While the Atlantic division won the skill competition, Crosby handily outdid his competition in the stickhandling drill and accuracy shooting against Auston Matthews. In fact, the usually unflappable 19-year-old Matthews showed some nerves during the stickhandling drill, and later revealed to reporters that Crosby had chirped him before the competition about messing with his equipment:
“I told (Auston) to beware of using the stick I cut in half,” Crosby chuckled.[1]
An All Star-game win was the last thing missing from Sidney Crosby's illustrious hockey career. He has now won everything there is to win as part of a team in hockey. Furthermore, with the exception of his World Junior Championship, Crosby has captained each of his winning teams.
NHL Top 100 Controversy[]
The NHL kicked off the weekend by announcing the top 100 NHL players of all time. Sidney Crosby was, of course, named to the list, but Evgeni Malkin was woefully omitted. The decision is even more baffling as Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks made the list. Malkin outclasses them in every way, and the only difference is that they have three Cups to Malkin's two.[2]