HockeyThe unknown all-star, plus 30 thoughts

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Ray Whitney, left, celebrates a Coyotes goal with teammates (from left to right) Keith Yandle, Shane Doan and Lee Stempniak earlier this season. Yandle, who played in the NHL All-Star Game over the weeekend, is the league's highest-scoring defenceman with eight goals and 44 points going into Tuesday night's action. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

It's fitting that Loui Eriksson and Keith Yandle dressed next to one another during NHL All-Star Weekend.

In the fascinating HNIC/NHLPA players' poll, Eriksson was voted the most underrated player. In an informal ask-anyone-I-run-into poll, Yandle was unofficially voted "best unknown all-star."

"You write that down as one of your goals," Yandle said of being the league's highest-scoring defenceman. "But that doesn't necessarily mean you think it's really going to happen."

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville says Yandle makes intelligent decisions on when to be active in the rush and where to find the holes. His high hockey IQ shouldn't be surprising considering his father, Buddy, played two seasons at Boston College and coached high school hockey for 30 years. (He did not, however, coach his son.) It also can't hurt that he's got access to someone else who had a reasonably decent NHL career - Ray Bourque.

"Chris Bourque was in my wedding," Yandle was saying Sunday afternoon. "I was surprised yesterday to get a message from Ray, wishing me congratulations for being here. He told me it would be a frenzy."

The frenzy would really begin if he was an unrestricted free agent after this season. Instead, he will be an RFA, and there have been no discussions on a new deal. (Not a surprise considering the financial soap opera surrounding his team.) But, when Yandle's name was mentioned in trade rumours earlier this season, Coyotes general manager Don Maloney rolled his eyes. This guy isn't going anywhere.

Except to punk Shane Doan.

"He's always rushing to get on the ice 30 seconds before practice starts," Yandle says. "I'll do something to the laces of his skates, try to make him late ...We have a good relationship, and I'm just trying to get a laugh."

Yandle is on pace for 71 points. Only one defenceman (Mike Green, who did it twice) has soared above that over the past five seasons. Yandle may be a prankster, but he's no punchline. As one player said, "He's not a surprise to anyone who watches."

30 THOUGHTS

1. Tom Golisano will announce Thursday he's selling the Buffalo Sabres. New owner Terry Pegula plans to retain GM Darcy Regier and head coach Lindy Ruff. (There was at least one team eying Ruff for next season.) One of Pegula's close advisors is former Penguins CEO Ken Sawyer, which is interesting, because there are rumblings Pittsburgh's ex-GM, Craig Patrick, will be involved in some capacity. 

2. Had heard at the Board of Governors meeting that Jay Feaster would get the interim tag removed this week and be named Darryl Sutter's permanent replacement. That's apparently untrue. There is, as I understand it, a Flames' owners' meeting this week, but no such announcement is planned. 

3. With one month to go before the trade deadline, GMs seem to feel a high-impact, race-changing player is not available. (At least not right now.) It is believed, however, there will be plenty of second/third-pair defencemen on the market. 

4. Kris Versteeg is furious at rumours that he is unhappy in Toronto: "It's stupidity; people trying to make up something. I definitely want to stay ... I'm unhappy at losing, but I never went to anyone and said I wanted to get out of here or anything. I'm not a quitter." He's probably angrier at the losers who defaced his car.

5. What a weekend for the Maple Leafs: Phil Kessel goes last in the all-star draft, the franchise is selected fifth-least desirable in the NHL and Ron Wilson is voted coach no one wants to play for. Only thing missing was Mikhail Grabovski suffering a season-ending sunburn. 

6. Admittedly, I felt horrible for Kessel. He's got enough to deal with in Toronto, since his trade is a lightning rod for fan discontent and being the final selection will not be forgotten, well, ever. He handled it incredibly well, considering he's somewhat shy and uncomfortable in the spotlight. I would bet, though, that a "last pick" will be a one-year phenomenon.

7. Looking at Lee Sweatt, can't help but think Brian Rafalski. Both were four-year NCAA defencemen who had zero interest from the NHL. Both became huge stars in Finland. Sweatt returned to North America at age 25, Rafalski at 26. If the Canuck turns out half as good as the Red Wing, Vancouver is getting a heckuva player.

8. The Matt Moulson signing was huge for the Islanders. First, they needed some good news after the Nabokov fiasco. Second, when you have a young team, one of the most important things to do is show the players they will be rewarded for doing the right things. In this case, mission accomplished.

9. In 1999, the Senators waited 64 days between suspending Alexei Yashin for not reporting, and then suspending him for the season. New York will have to follow similar protocol to have Nabokov's deal carry over to next year, but I can't imagine it will be that long because we're talking March 30. If he doesn't show up soon, the goalie will be shut down so he can't walk in for Game 78 and say, "Hey, I'm ready to play." 

10. One of the biggest second-half stories will be recoveries of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Crosby being cleared for light workouts isn't reason for optimism yet, because concussions can play havoc with this step. Malkin told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette yesterday his knee was 100 per cent, but there are skeptics who feel he'll need surgery. We'll see. 

11. Three games into the season, Todd Richards looked like he was in big trouble. But Chuck Fletcher is being rewarded for his patience. Fletcher said he never came close to pulling the chute. "All we've done here is make change. New coach, new players, new system. What we need is stability, not more changes." 

12. Taylor Hall hated losing twice to Michael Grabner in the fastest-skating event. Hall's competitiveness makes a difference. Told he made the rookie event, he was more interested in getting invited to the big boy's table.

13. The best thing about the league adding Rob Blake to the NHL's Hockey Operations department is that he'll stay (mostly) on the West Coast. The NHL needs a four- or five-man satellite office out there, so those teams don't feel so detached from Toronto and New York. How about a retired goaltender so their spot-checks can be a little more random? Most are done in Toronto. 

14. Commissioner Bettman admitted Saturday that concussions are up. While the explanation was a little awkward, it is important to make that declaration. However, there are eight players whose totals do not count in this year's statistics. Those include Ian Laperriere, Bryce Salvador, Paul Kariya, Peter Mueller and Marc Savard (the first time) because their injuries occurred prior to the start of the regular season. If they were counted, the number of man-games lost would be record-breaking.

15. Bettman and the other Governors made it very clear what others had hinted in the past couple of weeks: there is not really an overwhelming attitude for a total ban on hits to the head. You can debate that until you're out of breath (and we all probably will), but that shouldn't prevent them from taking a serious look at how concussions are dealt with.

16. Marc-Andre Fleury and Carey Price chatted about their duelling poses from early January and considered doing them together during the skills competition. Didn't happen. Fleury wondered how Price would react, but said the Canadiens goaltender just laughed and admitted, "That was a good one."

17. Good Line I: Kris Letang on blocking Zdeno Chara's shot: "(Marc-Andre) Fleury always says he wants to see the shots. When (Chara) winds up, we're happy to get out of the way."

18. Speaking of Letang, teammates say one of the reasons he's having a breakout season is the four-year, $14 million US contract extension he signed last March. Letang wanted to prove to the Penguins they made a good investment.

19. Good Line II: Tyler Ennis was thrilled to get a stick from Daniel Briere at all-star weekend. He called Briere "my idol." Did he tell the ex-Sabre that? "No, I didn't want to make him feel old."

20. The winner: I asked someone when Alexander Ovechkin decided to go clean-shaven. The response: "When he got a Gillette sponsorship."  I'm still not sure the answer is serious, but, geez is it funny. 

21. Wearing a microphone, Eric Staal snarled "Hit the net" at himself after missing a good chance during the all-star game. Apparently, that's pretty real insight into his captaincy. He'll yell that in practice at any teammate who misses a shot.

22. Couple other good ones about Staal from our Inside Hockey piece: As a rookie, he was forced to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star to a small group of middle-aged women during a team dinner. And, three weeks after Paul Maurice was re-hired as Hurricanes coach, he and Staal were glaring at each other on the bench over playing time during the third-period of a game against Atlanta. Finally, Maurice decided to play him every second shift, and the captain responded with a natural hat trick in a come-from-behind victory.

23. Craig Simpson - an Edmonton assistant during the 2006 Stanley Cup Final - said the Oilers learned Staal could beat you in many different ways. That really meant a lot to him. Staal reminds me a lot of Mats Sundin. Outwardly calm with a good poker face that hides a fierce competitiveness. 

24. Finally, was surprised the MVP choice wasn't switched to Staal when he scored his second goal late in the game. But Patrick Sharp was certainly deserving. Just before the second period, a man made his way to the walk-on area with an official Blackhawks jersey featuring Sharp's name and number. As he was stepping towards the ice, the man asked him to autograph it. Sharp stopped, and his teammates waited for him to finish.

25. We all know the all-star game will never be perfect. However, I do think the NHL - whether intentionally or not - hit on a couple of keys to make the event more enjoyable to those in attendance. First, load up with the hometown team. It worked in Montreal, it worked in Raleigh. Second, invite as many newcomers as possible. Those playing in their first or second games enjoy it a lot more than repeaters, and it makes a difference. For next year, I would target players like Tomas Plekanec, Jordan Eberle or Ryan Callahan. Maybe they wouldn't be your first choices, but they would appreciate the invitation.

26. When Carolina won the Cup in 2006, Cam Ward's parents received a lot of attention. Remember trying to follow up during the 2009 Eastern Conference Final, and his father, Ken, politely declined because he wanted the focus to be on Cam and not him. Very similar: Jeff Skinner's father, Andrew. Like Ken Ward, very friendly, but begged out of an interview so Jeff would get the attention. Probably explains why the two players were mature enough to adjust to NHL life so quickly. 

27. In the middle of last week, the NHL sent out a release indicating the league is on pace for another year of record revenues. Love the timing. Aren't negotiations for a new US TV deal beginning shortly? Very clever. 

28. As Wayne Gretzky turned 50 last week, everyone told their favourite story. Here's mine: As it was explained to me, Gretzky once went through an entire team to score a beautiful goal. Before celebrating, he turned to the referee and yelled, "Too many men!" A teammate asked how he knew, and Gretzky replied: "Because I just went around six guys."

29. The Ray Bourque story mentioned above is not the only time he's left a surprise message for someone. Prior to Game 6 of the 2004 Stanley Cup Final, he left a message for one-time teammate Tim Taylor. The Lightning were on the road, trailing Calgary 3-2 - just like the Hall-of-Famer's Avalanche against the Devils in 2001. Bourque reminded Taylor how his team "urinated on a parade," and that Tampa could, too. Taylor played it for all of his teammates, and we all know how that turned out.

30. Carolina doesn't have as many hockey fans as Montreal, but, if this all-star game proved anything, it's that if those who do care about the game are passionate, they put on a great show.

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