Avs stud defenseman Cale Makar selected to NHL All-Star Game again

At only 24 years old Cale Makar has won nearly every major trophy in the sport of hockey, so what’s left? Start earning those honors again.

On Thursday, Makar was named to his second-straight NHL All-Star Game. Makar, is just the third defenseman in Colorado Avalanche history to be named to the NHL All-Star Game in consecutive seasons, joining Sandis Ozolinsh and Rob Blake. Currently Makar ranks fifth among NHL defensemen in scoring this season with 34 points in 36 games. The Calgary native leads the entire NHL in ice time, averaging 27:09 per game and he recorded his 200th career point earlier this season, getting the milestone faster than any defenseman in NHL history.

Makar was the Stanley Cup Playoffs Most Valuable Player (Conn Smythe) this summer as he powered the Avs to their third-ever Stanley Cup championship.

Makar is Colorado’s lone All-Star under the NHL’s new voting format where the league’s department of hockey operations selects one player per NHL team in each division (including one goalie), making up the initial eight-man rosters for each division. Then there will be three remaining players per division (two skaters, one goalie,) who make this year’s game in south Florida.

Makar, Bobby Orr and Brian Leetch are the only players in NHL history to have won the Calder Memorial Trophy (rookie of the year), the James Norris Memorial Trophy (top defenseman) and Conn Smythe Trophy.

Makar has been the only headliner Avs player who has stayed healthy this season as Colorado looks to repeat. As of now, they’re struggling for the west’s last playoff spot.

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