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Cody McLeod gets 1st star from Denver Post for ejection, 30 PIMs
The Colorado Avalanche defeated the Dallas Stars, 4-1, on Saturday night, continuing their late push for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Dennis Everberg and Alex Tanguay had a goal and an assist. Semyon Varlamov made 24 of 25 saves.
Did any of them deserve first star? Perhaps. But how could their exploits compare to those of a fourth line winger who skated 8:58 and amassed 30 penalty minutes and a game misconduct?
Yes, perennial Hart candidate Cody McLeod was given the first star of the game for a fighting major at 2:59 of the first period and a fighting major and a game misconduct at 6:22 of the third period.
Once more, with feeling: The first star of the game saw his night end 6:22 into the third period of a 3-0 game, having done nothing offensively to contribute to that lead. So vital to the victory was MacLeod that Rick Sadowski didn’t mention him in his NHL.com game recap until the final paragraph.
As you know, the first star is voted on by the media, and the box score indicates it was Mike Chambers of the Denver Post put McLeod first, in the most infamous in this exercise in frivolity since Frank Seravalli made Ray Emery third star for jumping Braden Holtby.
Said Patrick Roy after the game on McLeod:
“He’s been outstanding for the last month or so. He competes hard, finishes checks, I love his intensity.”
Some Avs fans seem to love the selection, undaunted by the fact that the player with the third fewest minutes in the game earned the first star.
Why did Chambers do it? He writes it's because he wasn't sure why McLeod was ejected, and he decided to use his vote to play to the fans:
We aren’t sure why McLeod got the additional game misconduct, and the crowd of 18,087 didn’t want to see McLeod go.So I figured I’d help bring him back to do the Altitude postgame No. 1 star interview — based primarily on his rugged play when he still had his skates on. Plays away from the puck can be as important as what you do with the puck on your stick. McLeod did plenty to halt Colorado’s four-game losing streak.
... I settled on McLeod because hockey is a rugged sport, nobody plays as rugged as No. 55, and he played his role to perfection in all three periods. And, I’ll admit, I wanted to see the crowd’s response when McLeod came out of the dressing room in sweats. McLeod wears the “A” because he’s a great team guy. The fans love him too; he’s always the one guy who goes to battle every game.
But hey, at least it’s a wonky vote cast for something essentially meaningless and not something really serious like an NHL award.
