Kraken's Oliver Bjorkstrand Scores In All-Star Game Debut

Not Too Shabby For A 9th Round Draft Choice

Above Photo: Seattle Kraken forward Oliver Bjorkstrand, playing in Saturday's NHL All-Star Game in Toronto.

Seattle Kraken fans aren't salty about Oliver Bjorkstrand being the last pick in the NHL All-Star Game player draft.

Kraken fans aren't insulted that Bjorkstrand became the All-Star Game's "Mr. Irrelevant."

The hell they're not.

Bjorkstrand wasn't even selected to be part of "Team MacKinnon." He was the only one left. He didn't get to participate in Friday's "Skills Competition" either.

Did the Kraken winger, who earned his All-Star nod with 13 goals and 40 points in 50 games, get mad? No. He got even.

The format for this year's All-Star Game at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto was four teams of 11 players. Each team had a pre-arranged captain and co-captain, with Thursday's player draft distributing the other nine players who would fill out each roster.

Bjorkstrand ended up on Team MacKinnon, captained by Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon. His deputy would be Avalanche teammate - and Kraken fan favorite - Cale Makar.

The winners of each 3-on-3 semifinal would meet in a 3-on-3 final. So let's check out the goal-scorers for Team MacKinnon in their Saturday semifinal against Team (Connor) McDavid.

That's right - of the seven drafted skaters on Team MacKinnon, Bjorkstrand was the only one to score! Makar didn't score, either. In fact, MacKinnon himself, with two goals, was the only one besides Bjorkstrand to score in his team's 4-3 shootout loss to Team McDavid.

Bjorkstand also played responsibly in his defensive zone - possibly the only one on either team who did, in a game of breakaways, 2-on-1s and 2-on-0s. 

"I made some reads out there," he said afterward in a short Seattle Hockey Insider interview. "I wanted to win, I guess."

This may sound depressingly familiar to Kraken fans; Bjorkstrand's team let a two goal lead slip away in the final 28 seconds. But the Danish forward kept the whole experience in perspective.

"Mostly I had fun, so it was good."

Team MacKinnon ultimately couldn't overcome a distinct disadvantage. Celebrity captain Tate McRae, a Canadian singer, wasn't available when she was needed to draw plays and provide inspiration. Turns out she was busy performing.

Guess who else was entertaining the Scotiabank Arena crowd: Buoy, the Kraken mascot. Our friend John Costick sent the photo of Buoy.

I do wonder about the difficulty Buoy encountered getting to Toronto.

For instance, what if he's assigned a middle seat on his flights. Of course, maybe that's more of an issue for the passengers whose heads are to the right and left of his.

And would Customs give him a hard time? Ethnicity: Troll. Reason For Visit: Mascotting.