NHL

Jeff Carter has been named to the 2009 All-Star game, the Flyers only representative.

The 24 year old Carter is tied for the league lead in goals with 27 and is 12th in points.

While it's great that Carter's great first half of the season is being recognized (this is his first All-Star game), there were certainly some other players on the Flyers who were equally deserving, such as Mike Richards (15 goals, 27 assists, +16 plus-minus), Simon Gagne (18 goals, 22 assists, +18) and Kimmo Timonen (22 assists).

Partly working against the Flyers was the general depth at the Center position, particularly in the Eastern Conference. Then there was the Montreal fans.

Montreal, hosting this years All-Star game, voted in four starters, winger Alexei Kovalev, goalie Carey Price, along with defensemen Mike Komisarek and Andrei Markov. The other two Eastern Conference starters went to the Pittsburgh duo of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

Hard to say Carter was the only Flyer deserving, particularly in Mike Richards' case, but no All-Star roster is ever error-free. At 24 years of age, Richards will get many more opportunities to make the team.

Source: NHL.com.