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Auston Matthews, Carey Price, Columbus Blue Jackets, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Seth Jones, Toronto Maple Leafs, Wayne Simmonds
A friend recently presented me with a challenge: pick a 2016-17 Color of Hockey All-Star team.
Challenge accepted! But it wasn’t easy. Several players of color had really good 2016-17 seasons, enough to spark lively bar debates over who’s worthy of being a first-team all-star and who’s not.

Toronto Maple Leafs’ center Auston Matthews.
Auston Matthews, center, Toronto Maple Leafs. The 19-year-old Mexican-American from Arizona terrorized NHL goalies in his rookie year and returned the Leafs to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Matthews led the team in scoring with 40 goals and 29 assists while playing in all 82 regular season games. His 40 goals tied him for second in the NHL with Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov. Matthews’ 69 points were tops among NHL rookies and 20th among all NHL players.
He would be a top player for the United States on its 2018 Winter Olympics hockey team. But the National Hockey League insists that its not sending it’s players to PyeongChang, South Korea.

Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds.
The Wayne Train led the Flyers in goals with 31. He was fourth on the team in scoring with 54 points – the combination of 31 goals and 23 assists. He also was the Flyers’ toughest customer, leading the team with 122 penalty minutes.

Brandon Saad, F, Columbus Blue Jackets
Brandon Saad, left wing, Columbus Blue Jackets. The U.S.-born son of a Syrian immigrant, Saad was the Blue Jackets’ third-leading scorer with 24 goals and 29 assists in 82 games He was the 18th-leading scorer among the league’s left wings, a group that includes Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, Artemi Panarin of the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Boston Bruins’ Brad Marchand.
Dustin Byfuglien, defense, Winnipeg Jets. Big shot. Big hits. Big man. Big Buff, at 6-foot-5, 260-pounds, was fifth among NHL defensemen in scoring with 13 goals and 39 assists in 80 games. He was fifth on the Jets in scoring with 52 points.
USA Hockey’s brain trust left him off the 2014 U.S. Olympic team and his use by Blue Jackets Head Coach John Tortorella as bench of the U.S. team in September’s World Cup of Hockey was curious. But Byfuglien probably would have gotten a hard look for the 2018 Winter Games
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Seth Jones, D, Columbus Blue Jackets
He was 19th among NHL defensemen in scoring. Subban, the Nashville Predators’ D-man, was 22nd among the league’s blue-liners with 10 goals and 30 assists in 66 games.
Jones would be a lock for Team USA at the 2018 Winter Games in February if NHLers were going.
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Carey Price, goaltender, Montreal Canadiens. Price rebounded from an injury-shortened 2015-16 season to finish fifth among NHL goalies with a 30-20-5 record and a 2.23 goals-against average. Price, whose mother is a former Ulkatcho First Nation chief, had three shutouts during the 2016-17 season.
Price was an Olympian in 2014 and would be in the mix to be Canada’s top netminder for the 2018 Winter Games if the NHL were sending its players.
SECOND TEAM

Nazem Kadri, F, Toronto Maple Leafs
Evander Kane, left wing, Buffalo Sabres. Talented on the ice and sometimes trying off it, Kane tallied 28 goals and 15 assists in 70 games for Buffalo. He was sixth on the Sabres in scoring and 35th among the NHL’s left wings.
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T.J. Oshie, F, Washington Capitals
A shootist remembered for his stunning display of moves during a dramatic U.S.-Russia shootout at the 2014 Olympics, Oshie would surely be under consideration for the 2018 U.S. Olympic squad.
P.K. Subban, defense, Nashville Predators. Adjusting to a new team, new town, and coping with injuries, Subban’s still manged to score 40 points on 10 goals and 30 assists. He’ll forever be linked to defenseman Shea Weber for whom he was swapped in the stunning trade last summer between Nashville and the Canadiens.
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So how did Weber do in 2016-17? He had 17 goals and 25 assists – 42 points – in 78 games. Weber’s Canadiens were ousted from the playoffs in the first round by the New York Rangers. Subban and the Predators are playing in the Cup Final against the defending champion Penguins.

Matt Dumba, D, Minnesota Wild
Charles Williams, goaltender, Canisius College. Sure, he’s not in the NHL but that doesn’t diminish the amazing 2016-17 season Williams had. He helped guide Canisius’ Golden Griffins to an Atlantic Hockey regular season title and was named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, presented to the top NCAA Division I men’s hockey player.

Canisius College goalie Charles Williams signed a contact with the ECHL’s Manchester Monarchs in March ( (Photo/Canisius College).
Williams, who was a fifth-year transfer student, signed a standard player contract in March with the Manchester Monarchs, the Los Angeles Kings’ ECHL farm team.
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