Eriksson and Richards Going To NHL All-Star Game
NEW YORK, NY (Sports Network) - The remaining 36 players for the NHL All-Star Game were announced by the league on Tuesday, completing the 42-man roster for the January 30 contest in Raleigh.
This year's game has a new twist as all 42 players selected to compete will be combined into one pool. Two captains will be selected to lead the respective squads and they will each make picks on an alternating basis to fill the particular roster, one which must comprised of three goaltenders, six defensemen and 12 forwards.
The first six players were elected to the game by a fan vote and announced last week. Those chosen by the fans were forwards Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, defenseman Kris Letang and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury of the Penguins, and forward Jonathan Toews and defenseman Duncan Keith of the Blackhawks.
Forwards selected by the league were Corey Perry of Anaheim, Calgary's Jarome Iginla, Eric Staal of Carolina, Chicago's Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp, Colorado's Matt Duchene, Rick Nash of Columbus, Loui Eriksson and Brad Richards of Dallas, Edmonton's Ales Hemsky, Anze Kopitar of Los Angeles, New Jersey's Patrik Elias, Philadelphia's Claude Giroux, David Backes of St. Louis, Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis, Phil Kessel of Toronto, Ryan Kesler, Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin of Vancouver and Washington's Alex Ovechkin.
The additional defensemen picked were Atlanta's Dustin Byfuglien and Tobias Enstrom, Zdeno Chara of Boston, Nicklas Lidstrom of Detroit, Brent Burns of Minnesota, Nashville's Shea Weber, Marc Staal of the New York Rangers, Ottawa's Erik Karlsson, Dan Boyle of San Jose and Washington's Mike Green.
Goaltenders heading to the contest will be Jonas Hiller of Anaheim, Boston's Tim Thomas, Carolina's Cam Ward, Montreal's Carey Price and Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers.
In addition, 12 rookies were chosen to participate in the skills competition, which will take place on Saturday, January 29. That roster, which will be divided into two teams of six, features Anaheim's Cam Fowler, Boston's Tyler Seguin, Buffalo's Tyler Ennis, Jeff Skinner of Carolina, Kevin Shattenkirk of Colorado, Edmonton's Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall, Evgeny Dadonov of Florida, Michael Grabner of the New York Islanders, Derek Stepan of the Rangers, Phoenix's Oliver Ekman-Larsson and San Jose's Logan Couture.
Including the rookie rosters, every NHL team will be represented for All-Star weekend.
The All-Star captains will be chosen next week and the draft will be held on Friday, January 28.
