BY: Stephen Harris
The good folks in the NHL front office have done the Bruins [team stats] no favors this season.

First, the league let the Philadelphia Flyers’ Randy Jones and Scott Hartnell off with two-game suspensions for cheap shots that sent Patrice Bergeron and Andrew Alberts, respectively, to the hospital. Both Bruins are still sidelined, with no return in sight, as the B’s and Flyers face off this afternoon in Philly.

And yesterday, adding insult to injuries, the league snubbed B’s netminder Tim Thomas [stats] for an All-Star Game berth.

Thomas was frustrated and angered by the news, but not terribly surprised. It took him several minutes to find the proper words to express his reaction.

“Yeah, sure, I’m disappointed,” said Thomas. “You just hope. It would have been a great honor. But the league does things their own way. I’m not really that surprised, because things work in mysterious ways in this league, and you don’t always understand what’s going on behind the scenes.”

The two goalies chosen as All-Star reserves instead of Thomas can’t match the Bruin’s numbers. The Islanders’ Rick DiPietro (16-14-5, 2.52 goals-against average, .912 save percentage entering last night) and the Panthers’ Tomas Vokoun (19-17-2, 2.65, .918) will join starter Martin Brodeur (23-13-2, 2.11, .920) of New Jersey, whom the fans voted in.

Thomas is 13-11-3 and leads the NHL with a .930 save percentage. His GAA of 2.33 ranks ninth in the league, but second in the East.

“He’s had a great season, it’s too bad,” said All-Star starter Zdeno Chara, the B’s lone representative. “He deserved to be there, I think. I guess they want to have a player from every team.”

The NHL doesn’t mandate that each club have an All-Star, but spokesman Frank Brown said “every effort is made” to have all teams represented. DiPietro and Vokoun were their team’s lone All-Stars.

Bruins coach Claude Julien said of Thomas, “He is very deserving of being there - he’s proven it with his play and his stats. Unfortunately, some people seem to think differently.”

Thomas tried to shrug off the disappointment.

“The All-Star Game is about the fans,” he said. “It’s not about whether my ego gets petted by making it. The most important thing is what happens with our team, making the playoffs. An All-Star Game is just an extra award. Would it have been nice? Of course. Would it have been kind of a dream come true? Of course.”