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RALEIGH, NC -- Even with a new format that created freshbuzz for the event, Patrick Sharp of the Chicago Blackhawks said "it's tough toget too motivated for an All-Star Game."
Yet Sharp played with purpose in Sunday's NHL All-Star Game
icking up two assists in the first period and ripping a shot home againstJonas Hiller in the second period. His three points in 13:30 helped earn Sharp the NHL All-StarGame Most Valuable Player Award, the first Chicago player to win the awardsince Eric Daze in 2002.
(For those wondering, the MVP is chosen via a fan vote through text messages and the votes of 12 members of the media attending the game. So if you thought Loui Eriksson was robbed, there you go.)
"He played great and he deserves it," said David Backes ofthe St. Louis Blues, who played on a line with Sharp and Claude Giroux of thePhiladelphia Flyers for Team Staal. "You're just playing in the first periodand you're like, 'Hey, he's doing pretty well tonight. Let's try and keepfeeding him.'"
So in a game treated as casually as the All-Star Game istreated by players -- well, until the final three minutes in a 1-goalgame, as was witnessed on Sunday -- what motivated Sharp?
His motivation came from an oversight, as Sharp was leftoff the NHL's online ballot for the All-Star Game when it was released inNovember with six of his Chicago teammates listed. At the time, Sharp wasalready on a career-best goal-scoring pace; he currently has 26 goals on the season.
"I guess I'd be lying if I said I wasn't bothered by it," hesaid after the All-Star Game.
He eventually joined the player pool as an NHL-appointedreserve player, and was selected by Eric Staal's team in Friday's Fantasy Draft. Team Nicklas Lidstrom, meanwhile, wasloaded with Sharp's buddies: Blackhawks Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and DuncanKeith, as well as former Blackhawk Dustin Byfuglien, now with the AtlantaThrashers.
"They won the game, I got the trophy, so I guess everybody'shappy," said Sharp, whose team lost to Team Lidstrom, 11-10.
So who owns the bragging rights?
"This will be a topic of conversation, definitely. I'll besure to bring it up a few times [on the flight]," said Sharp. "Jonathan and Ialso have some unfinished business."
That's a reference to their showdown in the Shot Accuracy skills competition on Saturday night in which Sharp defeated Jonathan Toews,but the match was replayed after Toews said he didn't hear the whistle to startthe event. In Round 2, Toews was victorious. Sharp said he anticipated a Round3 back in Chicago.
But perhaps most of all, Sharp was motivated by family.
Members of his family saw their flight cancelled out ofNewark, NJ, due to inclement weather in the Northeast. "They met some peoplehere in Raleigh, they jumped in a minivan and drove from midnight to 8 a.m.just to get here to watch the game," he said.
"Ididn't want to let them down."
Of course, the trophy wasn't the only perk to being namedMVP: There was also the matter of his new Honda Crosstour EX-L, given to him ina postgame ceremony.
"I'm glad I can bring the trophyhome," he said. "My dad and my brother will be fighting over the car."