Power rankings: All-Star attractions …

This week's power rankings – which appear each Tuesday – take a look at whether the player most deserving is representing his team in Sunday's NHL All-Star Game. Or is someone about to enjoy a restful four-day break sitting at home when they should otherwise be in Montreal?

Bogus fan voting aside, and the fact the league doesn't like to admit it insists on each team being represented, we understand there are going to be inequities. Sometimes those situations are rectified by last-minute injuries and subsequent substitutions, which may help some of the players on the outside looking in, but here's how it looks six days before the event.

1.San Jose Sharks (33-6-5, Previous: 2) – Joe Thornton and Dan Boyle. Both selections are slam dunks. Thornton has successfully added to his game without taking away from the offensive creativity. Boyle is basically the biggest acquisition of the offseason for any team. He's had that much of an impact, including Detroit's pickup of Marian Hossa. Patrick Marleau should be in the game, and Evgeni Nabokov is as solid as ever. Devin Setoguchi is a young star, but he'll see action in the bigger game in years to come.

2.Detroit Red Wings (31-8-6, Previous: 1) – Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom. Datsyuk has simply been the best player receiving the least amount of attention this season. Lidstrom goes as much as on reputation, but we don't have a problem with that. He, too, is annually underrated until voting for the Norris Trophy is due. Hossa should be in the game, no doubt.

3.Boston Bruins (33-8-5, Previous: 3) – Marc Savard, Zdeno Chara and Tim Thomas. No arguments here other than it's not enough. David Krejci and Phil Kessel deserve recognition by invitation. Few talk about Dennis Wideman, but the defenseman logs big minutes and racks up points. At least Milan Lucic is a "young star." He, too, possibly personifies the best throw-back Bruin personality with his versatility of scoring and toughness. Blake Wheeler is a deserving "young star" as well.

4.Montreal Canadiens (27-11-6, Previous: 4) – Alexei Kovalev, Andrei Markov, Mike Komisarek and Carey Price. Really now. Four go thanks to fans' quick fingers, but would you believe Robert Lang is actually Montreal's leading scorer and not invited? We'll cut some slack here because the event is always better when there's strong representation from the host team, and this being a special season in Montreal makes it that much easier to accept.

5.Washington Capitals (30-14-3, Previous: 7) – Alexander Ovechkin. This makes three of the six first-place teams with only one representative. And if there was ever a game to showcase the skills of defenseman Mike Green, this is it. Alexander Semin also is deserving. Nicklas Backstrom gets the call from the young stars, too.

6.Chicago Blackhawks (25-11-8, Previous: 8) – Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Brian Campbell. Whether Toews is really having an All-Star season can be debated. He's certainly not having as good of a season as Marleau or Hossa, both left out. Patrick Sharp should have been an All-Star last year, and it can be argued he deserves it again this season. Kris Versteeg is a young star and quite deserving.

7.New Jersey Devils (28-15-3, Previous: 12) – Zach Parise. A deserving choice, and he's surprisingly productive in the Jersey system (94-point pace), but Patrik Elias has just one fewer point so there's an argument for two Devils to attend. At least the fans didn't vote in Martin Brodeur.

8.Calgary Flames (27-14-4, Previous: 6) – Jarome Iginla. No qualms with the selection but has anyone else noticed the nice season newcomer Michael Cammalleri is having? It still seems like a first-place team would have better representation here.

9.Philadelphia Flyers (24-12-9, Previous: 5) – Jeff Carter. This is a pretty good team to have just one rep. Mike Richards is an All-Star in every sense of the word, but his game doesn't translate as well to the no-touch event that will be played Sunday. Still, that shouldn't be a deciding factor in who does and doesn't go.

10.New York Rangers (27-16-4, Previous: 9) – Henrik Lundqvist. This is one of those reputation picks and the league is certainly not going to snub the Rangers. Nikolai Zherdev is probably more deserving. Sophomore Brandon Dubinsky makes a second straight young-star showing and is joined by sophomore Marc Staal.

11.Buffalo Sabres (24-17-5, Previous: 13) – Thomas Vanek. No question the Sabres sharp-shooter should be in the game, but it might surprise a lot of people that teammate Derek Roy has just as many points (42). And Ryan Miller has been every bit as good as, say, Lundqvist. Yet Lundqvist is in the game and Miller is not.

12.Pittsburgh Penguins (23-20-4, Previous: 21) – Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Those are two obvious choices, the top scorers in the league, no less. Kris Letang is a bit of a head-scratcher pick for the young stars. He has a ton of talent and offensive upside, but he's scored only one goal and 15 points despite an increase in ice time necessitated by injury.

13.Edmonton Oilers (23-19-3, Previous: 16) – Sheldon Souray. Oh, is the ex-Canadien going to enjoy his return visit. And when you look at the roster, only leading scorer Ales Hemsky has more points (37-31) so we don't have a problem here. Andrew Cogliano gets nice recognition as a young star; he's got major wheels and they'll be a perfect fit for this wide-open affair.

14.Anaheim Ducks (23-19-5, Previous: 10) – Ryan Getzlaf, Scott Niedermayer and Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Don't blame Ducks fans for their internet stuffing of Getzlaf's name; he does deserve it. The other two? Not so much, at least not on this year's performance. Corey Perry has been decent and deserves consideration. Bobby Ryan got a late start, but they could have done worse in the young stars – and with the selection of Steven Stamkos they did.

15.Minnesota Wild (23-19-3, Previous: 22) – Niklas Backstrom. Obviously a wise choice; wouldn't it have been nice to get an equally deserving Mikko Koivu into the same city in which his older brother Saku is the well-respected team captain? You have to look at Minnesota like you look at New Jersey. Any player who comes close to averaging a point per game is probably worth 10-15 points more to any other team. Not that All-Star selections are based solely on stats, which is another reason to honor the well-rounded Koivu.

16.Dallas Stars (19-18-7, Previous: 15) – Mike Modano. What? Were you expecting Marty Turco here? Modano, he of 13 goals and 28 points in 44 games, is clearly a sentimental choice. Statistically it's either Brad Richards or Mike Ribeiro, who would have been a nice pick since he is an ex-Hab much like the Islanders' getting Mark Streit in the contest. James Neal is a young star, and that's nice recognition – he has probably been Dallas' best player from top to bottom thus far.

17.Phoenix Coyotes (23-19-5, Previous: 17) – Shane Doan. The Phoenix captain is having a solid offensive season. And not to say he shouldn't be going, but the Coyotes are getting a lot out of their young players, which is more important to long-term success than any All-Star recognition. One such standout – Mikkel Boedker – landed a spot on the young stars roster.

18.Columbus Blue Jackets (22-19-4, Previous: 18) – Rick Nash. It appeared a fourth straight All-Star appearance was not in the cards after a recent injury, but now Nash thinks he will be available for the game after having returned to regular-season play. Obviously rookie goalie Steve Mason has been the best Blue Jacket, and while he was snubbed for the real event at least he got selected as a young star.

19.Vancouver Canucks (22-19-6, Previous: 14) – Roberto Luongo. Hmmm, Luongo has appeared in 21 games because an injury limited his appearances to almost half of what one might expect. He probably would love to have that time off, too, considering he has just returned. Daniel Sedin has been awfully good, too, but he's been snubbed. Mason Raymond a young star? Why exactly?

20.Carolina Hurricanes (22-20-5, Previous: 11) – Eric Staal. The bottom line is no one in Carolina is having an All-Star-caliber season. It would have been nice to reward the ever persistent and consistently productive Ray Whitney. Does anyone remember he was drafted the same year Eric Lindros went No. 1 and Pat Falloon No. 2?

21.Florida Panthers (21-16-8, Previous: 9) – Jay Bouwmeester. Despite the defenseman's surge on offense of late, they probably got this one wrong. David Booth has been the most consistent and best Panthers performer, even though he goes largely unnoticed around the league. It's getting better though, as Florida emerges as a playoff contender in the East. Rookie Michael Frolik is a young star. Nice player, but really?

22.Colorado Avalanche (23-22-1, Previous: 20) – Milan Hejduk. Good player, no doubt, but is he really having an All-Star-caliber season? Look up and down the roster and it's hard to find anyone who is having one. Paul Stastny, certainly not under consideration, should be having a better season and needs to be an All-Star performer for this team to click. Just had to get that out there.

23.St. Louis Blues (18-23-4, Previous: 25) – Keith Tkachuk. There's no truth to the rumor Tkachuk is the only remaining healthy Blue. In all seriousness, shouldn't this be Brad Boyes? He had a breakout season that included 43 goals last year, and he has 20 more this year just to show it was no fluke. The selection of Patrik Berglund in the young stars event was a must, proof positive St. Louis really does have some nice young talent.

24.Tampa Bay Lightning (15-21-10, Previous: 23) – Vincent Lecavalier. Maybe this is some sort of cruel joke on Montreal fans, so they can see Lecavalier playing for "their side" on the Eastern roster. Martin St. Louis deserves the honor more – more points, averaging more ice time, only one minor penalty, a better plus-minus. And Stamkos gets a gift call from the young stars.

25.Ottawa Senators (15-21-7, Previous: 29) – Dany Heatley. Ottawa Senators and All-Star Game. What an oxymoron. Heatley? Sure, why not? On second thought, no, there should not be any Senators in this game.

26.Atlanta Thrashers (16-25-5, Previous: 28) – Ilya Kovalchuk. They've got this one reversed. Young star Bryan Little belongs in the real game and Kovalchuk in the … oh wait, he's too old to be considered a rookie or sophomore. Guess Kovalchuk should just stay home and read "How To Be A Captain In Three Easy Steps."

27.Los Angeles Kings (17-20-7, Previous: 26) – Dustin Brown. This is another one that doesn't make a lot of sense. Brown is a nice player, a leader who sets the tone by playing on the edge and that just doesn't translate to the All-Star Game. Anze Kopitar was the obvious choice. And Drew Doughty was a slam dunk for the young stars, where he'll join goalie Erik Ersberg.

28.Nashville Predators (20-23-3, Previous: 24) – Shea Weber. It's nice Weber gets recognition here, but this game won't provide the opportunity for him to display his full skills. That is unless he goes Jeremy Roenick on the proceedings and attempts a big hit. Then again, Weber is the team's runner-up in points and second, too, in goals. And then, of course, there's the fact that no one else is deserving.

29.Toronto Maple Leafs (17-22-7, Previous: 27) – Tomas Kaberle. Good thing this game is in Montreal and not Toronto. The closest thing to an All-Star from the Leafs this season is Ron Wilson. Or you do think a minus-10 belongs in the game? Luke Schenn gets to participate in the young stars event. He's only a minus-5.

30.New York Islanders (12-29-5, Previous: 30) – Mark Streit. Well, the free-agent signing on defense is the team's leading scorer, amazingly enough. He logs a lot of ice time. He used to play in Montreal. Looks like as good of a fit as you'll find off this roster.