St. Louis Blues Goalie Brian Elliott Selected for 2015 NHL All-Star Game
In an unexpected turn of events, St. Louis Blues goaltender Brian Elliott will make his second career NHL All-Star appearance this weekend in Columbus. Elliott, who participated in the 2012 All-Star Game while having a career year as part of a tandem with Jaroslav Halak, will replace Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who suffered what is suspected to be a groin injury in Thursday’s game. Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard (groin) and Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne (sprained knee) had already been forced to drop out of the festivities earlier this month following injuries.
Regardless of the circumstances, it’s very impressive that Elliott was able to make himself an All-Star considering that he missed 14 games from late November into late December with a sprained knee. Luckily for him, he’s been one of the best goalies in the league when he’s been on the ice.
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Elliott leads the league with a 1.86 goals-against average, and he’s fourth among NHL goalies with a .930 save percentage. He’s played in 22 of the Blues’ 46 games thus far, and the Blues are 13-5-2 when he’s the goalie of record. Conversely, they’re a more modest 16-8-2 when he’s not in net.
Considering that Elliott is making a reasonable $2.3 million this season, it appears that the Blues made a wise decision to retain him as the starter and let Ryan Miller walk. Miller is getting paid $6 million this year, and he has a less impressive 2.30 goals-against average and .918 save percentage over 34 games with the Vancouver Canucks. Of course, the biggest test for Elliott will be seeing if he can put it together in the postseason, which many Blues goalies (including Elliott himself) have struggled to do in the past, but an All-Star berth in his first season of his new three-year contract is a nice start.