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Panthers NHL All-Star Game candidates announced

And your Florida Possibles are Tomas Fleischmann (5G-7A-12P, +7), Brian Campbell (1-11-12, -1) & Ed Jovanovski (2-2-4, even, 14 blocks).

Now we love us some Jovo ’round these parts as much as any South Florida hockey longtimer, but really? Statistically, a number of higher point producers exist on the current roster, and not just at the forward position:


GP G A P +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG GTG SOG PCT
2011 – Dmitry Kulikov 14 0 10 10 3 8 0 0 0 25


GP G A P +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG GTG SOG PCT
2011 – Jason Garrison 14 5 2 7 0 6 3 0 1 39


GP G A P +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG GTG SOG PCT
2011 – Mike Weaver 14 0 6 6 5 0 0 0 0 8


All are blueliners, have played one more game, and – in the case of Kuli and GarriBoom – are on their way “up” when viewed with an eye toward the Big Picture.

Again, no offense to Jovanovski and all he’s brought to this franchise throughout the years, but the NHL All-Star Game, and more importantly its voters, tend to favor offense and speed over, well, 35-year old defensemen who scored more than 12 goals once in sixteen seasons. Translated: the selection won’t light any fires among voters around the league.

That said, of course I’ll vote for him. Congrats to all three.

If a fourth candidate could be named – and had to be from the defense – it would be…

Kulikov 34
Garrison 50
Weaver 2