Pens Points: Crosby and Malkin Out, Fleury and Iceburgh In.

Well, the NHL All Star weekend is upon us. By now you've heard that Malkin, Crosby, Bobrovsky, and at least one or two more guys will miss it due to injuries. [Columbus Dispatch]

Here are top 5 pros and cons of the festivities: the good, the bad and the upgradeable. [Silver Seven]

Among new things to jazz things up will be the inaugural Mascot Showdown. The way things are going, this may end up being the main event. [NHL.com]

NHL All-Star Game ticket policy changed at last minute, hurting parents with small kids. [Jackets Cannon]

Four things we learned from the first half of the NHL season. [The Score]

The top ASG vote getter was the pride of Latvia and their highest-ever drafter player Zemgus Girgensons. Here is a great article on what hockey means to fans in the small Baltic country. [Yahoo Sports Canada]

Henrik Lundqvist continues to impress. Sigh. I am tired of Mr. Perfect. [Blueshirt Banter]

Who is the Capitals' biggest All Star snub? Backstrom, absolutely. The most underrated player in the league. [Japers Rink]

Which states produce the most American all-stars? [Stanley Cup of Chowder]

Can the Wings win the Atlantic? Honestly, I don't see why not. [Winging It In Motown]

In a trip down the memory lane, a look back at the 1988-89 Buffalo Sabres and their cast of (almost) Hall-of-Famers. [Grantland]

The Wizard is hanging 'em up. Ray Whitney retires following a career that produced 1064 NHL points. [ESPN]

Martin Brodeur is not hanging 'em up as of yet, but he is extending his leave of absence from the St. Louis Blues. [Sporting News]

Craig MacTavish says the Oilers may trade one of their 1st-round picks for a more NHL-ready player. Obviously he means the one they got from us for Perron. [SportsNet]

Let's have a little analytics section for today, since there's no real hockey for 4 days. For starters, PPP has an excellent primer on PDO and normal distribution. Great read for everyone. [Pension Plan Puppets]

Another PPP writer, Stephen Burtch, examines scoring chance data that War On Ice has recently started collecting. [Hockey Prospectus]

Trading off: How much possession can my team surrender and still win? Basically, how much possession control is necessary to overcome poor percentages and vice versa.  [Hockey Graphs]

How to find good depth players? Hint: Nick Spaling is not the right answer, or why players like Sean Bergenheim and Erik Condra are still so undervalued. [TSN]

And some eye candy for the end: it's Miss Universe 2015 pageant time and in one event the contestants were supposed to showcase their national costume or dress. Miss Canada took things to a whole new level. [O Canada]