57th National Hockey League All-Star Game - Absentee Punishment

Absentee Punishment

Due to a growing number of otherwise healthy players choosing to skip the All-Star Game to 'rest', the NHL began to enforce the understanding that players that are named to the All-Star Game must participate in some capacity. Those who choose not to participate must miss a game, either before the All-Star game or after. Players named to the YoungStars game will not be subject to this policy, as their consent is required for participation. Thus, due to Red Wings players Pavel Datsyuk and Niklas Lidstrom having declined to attend the festivities due to injury, they were forced to miss one game. Sidney Crosby, who was also ruled out due to injury, participated in off-ice activities and was not forced to miss a game.