Nothing about Zemgus Girgensons screams NHL all-star, or all-star starter for that matter.
But you can’t blame the Latvian fans for their efforts.
Because of the popularity of Girgensons in his home country, the Buffalo Sabres forward will crack the lineup in this weekend’s All-Star Game despite registering just 13 goals and nine assists in 47 games (as of Tuesday night).
He’s definitely an odd choice, but certainly not the worst choice.
We looked back at the history of NHL all-star rosters and here are four selections who probably shouldn’t have made the cut.
1) Peter Sidorkiewicz, Ottawa Senators — It’s not too often that a goaltender makes the all-star team with a 4-32-3 record but that occurred in 1992-93 with the expansion Ottawa Senators. Sidorkiewicz was the beneficiary of the NHL’s requirement to select at least one all-star per team. Strangely enough, the ’92-93 Senators had two selections — Sidorkiewicz and defenceman Brad Marsh.
Sidorkiewicz finished the year with an .856 save percentage and ended up with more losses and goals against than any other goalie that season. He did pick up a victory in the All-Star Game, which may have been the highlight of his year. Sidorkiewicz only appeared in four more NHL games after the 1992-93 campaign.
2) Petr Buzek, Atlanta Thrashers — In 1998, the NHL altered its all-star format. Instead of East vs. West, the All-Star Game became North America vs. the World. Because of the change, there were some new all-stars that season such as Dmitri Mironov (Anaheim) and Igor Kravchuk (Ottawa) and two years later that opened up the door for Petr Buzek.
Buzek, a mediocre defenceman at best, participated in the 2000 All-Star Game in Toronto for a few reasons: he played on a horrible team (the inaugural Atlanta Thrashers) and the World team was in need of a European blueliner. All of these factors led to a player who finished the season with 19 points and a minus-22 rating taking part in the All-Star Game.
3) Espen Knutsen, Columbus Blue Jackets — Only the Thrashers lost more games than the Blue Jackets during the 2001-02 season. That being said, the Blue Jackets still had one representative at the All-Star Game. Columbus forward Espen Knutsen wasn’t originally selected, but when Jere Lehtinen of the Dallas Stars was unable to play, he was named as an injury replacement. Knutsen, the only Norwegian to participate in NHL All-Star Game history, finished third on the Blue Jackets in points in 2001-02, registering 11 goals, and 42 points in 77 games. Not exactly all-star production.
4) Marcus Ragnarsson, San Jose Sharks — As indicated above, the North America vs. World format led to some head-scratching choices. And when perusing through old all-star lineups, this one certainly was one of the strangest.
In the 2000-01 season, the San Jose Sharks had two representatives on the World team — goaltender Evgeni Nabokov and Marcus Ragnarsson, a stay-at-home defenceman who didn’t generate much offence. Ragnarsson had only 13 points before the February All-Star Game at Pepsi Center and finished the season with just 15 points in 68 games, his second-lowest total in parts of eight seasons with the Sharks. The World lost the 2001 All-Star Game 14-12 to North America.
