CBJ09

"CARRY THE FLAG"

Columbus, OH • United States • 25 Years Old • Male

Time to Move On

The first person to tell you he is disappointed about not receiving the MVP award in the All-Star game will be Rick Nash. Yes, he had a hat trick, and you could certainly make the argument that all three were very nice goals.

The All-Star game is billed as a showcase of talent- the game's best players on the same stage for one night. Hockey fans cannot deny the entertainment factor put forth tonight. That does not even need discussed. Rick Nash had an outstanding game tonight, set a record, played with arguably the two best players in his conference and did not disappoint.

He set the record for fastest goal to start an All-Star game and got some overdue revenge on Tomas Vokoun. Same move that still has Chris Osgood spinning from last spring’s shootout win in Detroit. A sleek deke to the backhand that even the most agile of goaltenders can’t stop.

The resounding response to Eric Staal being named MVP is similar to that of Pascal Leclaire's omission. We hear the "snub" word, the "why not Nash" and "he got robbed." He didn't get robbed, per se. In fact, frankly, you could make a case for a handful of players that could have received the award. Evgeni Nabokov shutout the East in his period- when can you remember a goalie doing that? He stopped hometown sensation Ilya Kovalchuk point-blank twice in the final minute. The dude was good, real good.

This will provide Nash some motivation heading into the stretch run. He knows he should have won the award, but who are we as fans to criticize something we have no control over? At the end of the day, we know he is an amazing player, he was named a starter, and he was still the talk of the postgame shows for his performance. Rick Nash’s talent does not need pimped to the hockey world. Everyone knows how good he is, and the only way to solidify this stance is for him to lead his team into the postseason. Same goes for Pascal Leclaire.

No doubt it is disappointing, but we must move on. Lost in translation is the importance of what he has done so far for this team, and putting Columbus on the map. The Blue Jackets seem to be thrust into the NHL spotlight whenever his name comes up. Talking about Nash leads into talk of how this team has emerged this year, and what a great job Ken Hitchcock has done to resurrect a pitifully lost team.

Rick Nash needs no more props. He is a world class player, a stand up guy and outstanding teammate. None of these claims is debatable.

The second half of this season will be exciting. Fasten your seatbelts.


--Rob Mixer
[email][email protected][/email]

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