After announcing the 42-player All Star roster last week, the lineup momentarily dropped down to 41 yesterday when Calgary captain Jarome Iginla stepped out of the opportunity.
Iginla said that he needed valuable time to spend with his grandmother, who is in poor health at the moment. Iginla already lost his grandfather earlier this season.
Just a while later, the NHL named Philadelphia's Danny Briere as the replacement. The Flyers, who won the Eastern Conference last season and look like one of the top favorites again this year, surprisingly sent only one player, Claude Giroux, to the game when the original roster was announced.
Briere, age 33, will enter the All-Star Game leading the Flyers in points with 41, tied for 21st in the league. The Canadian also boasts five 25-plus goal seasons over his 13 year career.
However, it looks as if Briere may have argued his way into this position. Other than a 95-point season with Buffalo in 2006-07, Briere's career stats are not as impressive as several other non-included All-Star deserving players from around the NHL. It was clear Briere was upset to be left off when the list was announc ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Mark Jones
2011 NHL All-Star Game: Danny Briere Lucky to be Named as Iginla’s Replacement
January 20th, 2011 by Mark Jones Leave a reply »
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