It was leaked last night in several places, but Islanders defenseman and points leader Mark Streit will make his first career appearance in this years all star game as speculated.
The best part, it takes place in his old arena and in front of his old fans in Montreal! This is bitter sweet for a player that many credited his previous success to a product of a powerful Habs power play. Go figure, Montreal used Streit sparingly on the power play and often times as a spare forward. He wasn’t resigned in the offseason when he reached UFA status because they felt as if he would never be a well rounded defenseman. All Islanders fans can say is THANK YOU MONTREAL!
Per the Islanders press release:
Uniondale, NY, January 8, 2009 — New York Islanders defenseman Mark Streit has been selected to the 2009 NHL All-Star Game, which will be played on Sunday, January 25 in Montreal at the Bell Centre. Signed as a free agent on July 1, 2008, Streit is tied for first among NHL defensemen in scoring with 32 points (eight goals, 24 assists) and leads all NHL defensemen in powerplay scoring with 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists).
“This is an unbelievable honor and I’m truly excited to represent the Islanders in the All-Star Game,” said Streit, who was presented with an Eastern Conference All-Star Jersey at the Islanders’ morning skate in Calgary. “It’s going to be a great experience to go back to Montreal and it will be a lot of fun.”
Among NHL defensemen, Streit also ranks tied for fifth in goals with eight, second in assists with 24, tied for second in powerplay goals with seven, tied for first in shorthanded goals with one and seventh in shooting percentage at 10.5 percent.Streit is the first Swiss player ever to be named to the NHL All-Star Game. In 246 career NHL games, Streit has recorded 33 goals and 108 assists for 141 points. Streit also has eight years of experience playing in the Swiss league, where he scored a total of 57 goals and 139 assists for 196 points in 363 games.
After being selected by Montreal in the ninth round (262nd overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, Streit played for the Canadiens for three seasons (2005-06 – 2007-08) before joining the Islanders as a free agent last summer. Streit is signed by the Islanders through the 2012-13 season.The roster additions to the NHL All-Star Game were selected by the NHL’s Hockey Operations Department, after consultation with League General Managers.
The 2009 NHL All-Star Weekend in Montreal will celebrate the Montreal Canadiens’ Centennial season with live national broadcasts of the Honda/NHL SuperSkills event on Saturday, January 24, and the NHL All-Star Game on Sunday, January 25, on CBC and RDS in Canada and VERSUS in the United States. NHL Radio will provide exclusive national radio coverage which can be heard on stations around the United States and Canada as well as on Sirius XM Radio’s NHL Home Ice, located on XM channel 204 and on SIRIUS channel 208 with the “Best of XM” programming package. NHL.com and NHL Network will provide extensive coverage of the All-Star Weekend.
Congrats Mark, well deserved!
It definitely tells something about the Isles offense when Streit is the only defenseman in the Eastern Conference to lead his team in points.
As for the 5-2 deficit with 12 minutes left, does ANYONE think they’ll put together another good third period?
JMac has made some incredible saves tonight.
Where has Guerin been?
I wish Sather signed Streit instead of that sad excuse for a hockey player wade redden. The Isles really made a great signing with him.
nice blog btw, glad i found it.
It certainly was one of the best signings for us over the summer! I think Redden was overhyped, although he is a good player – whatever caused the Sens to allow him to walk has clearly followed him to NY. It’s unfortunate, he was projected to have a ton of upside.
Thanks for the compliment, I have been slacking the past two weeks because I have not felt good – but I plan on getting back to the grind.
I see you also have a blog, I will add you to my blog roll!