St. Louis Blues: NHL All-Star Game Should Be Moved

The St. Louis Blues players did not necessarily do themselves proud at the NHL All-Star Game. However, there were several players that did not, proving that this game needs to be moved.

The St. Louis Blues had two players representing the Central Division in the 2018 NHL All-Star Game. Neither Alex Pietrangelo nor Brayden Schenn covered themselves in glory.

Schenn was mostly an afterthought, only being mentioned once or twice. He did get a breakaway in the first period, but failed to convert it.

Pietrangelo was a little more obvious in his failings. He was on the ice for two of the Pacific Division’s goals and was at fault for one.

On the goal that allowed the Pacific to take the lead, he made the odd decision to pass it to his goaltender from the boards. Connor Hellebuyck received the pass, but really had nowhere to go with it. You can make the argument that Hellebuyck could have cleared, but Pietrangelo had no business putting him in that position.

On the ensuing shot, Pietrangelo turned his body away from a potential block as well. He was far from the only one to do that, as most of the games would become synonymous for just that. Even one of the league’s best, Erik Karlsson, turned away instead of standing still and having the puck likely glance off.

During the Atlantic against the Metropolitan, there were at least three shots that could have easily been blocked and players shied away from it. Even worse, during the Central’s loss, Tyler Seguin literally covered up his face like a scared raccoon on a shot that would have been almost impossible to hit him in the face.

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I’m not one to tell these players what to do. They are worried about their careers and not wanting to risk injury in an exhibition. That’s fine. It would be silly to throw big hits or dive to the ice to block slap shots in an All-Star Game.