Vancouver Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom named to NHL All-Star Game

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      Earlier this week, the NHL announced the rosters for its All-Star weekend on January 24 and 25. Only one Vancouver Canuck, Elias Pettersson, was named to the Pacific Division’s team.

      Others, like defenceman Quinn Hughes, who is one of the players fan can vote for in the Last Man In contest, and goaltender Jacob Markstrom, didn’t make the original team.

      But it appears that Markstrom, at least, will be joining the team after all. Vegas Golden Knights ‘tender Marc-Andre Fleury has decided not to take part in the festivities, and the league has named Vancouver’s backstop as his replacement.

      It makes a lot of sense. Markstrom is probably the number one reason why the Canucks are sitting a few games back of the Pacific Division lead, as he continues to churn out great performances night in and night out (OK, maybe last night against the Chicago Blackhawks was a rare exception).

      But with a .917 save percentage and some sparkling underlying numbers, there should be no surprise that Markstrom was the replacement for Fleury.

      If Hughes wins the fan vote (and there’s something of a movement to make that happen), the Canucks will be one of the rare teams to send three players to the event without hosting it. In fact, Markstrom's selection will make for the first time the Canucks will send multiple players to the annual festivities since 2012, when Daniel and Henrik Sedin attended with Alex Edler.

      A six-game winning streak really can cure all evils, eh?

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