After a major overhaul to the All Star Game format, the National Hockey League today announced the 11-man rosters for all four divisions to parttake in the 2016 NHL All-Star Game, made up of a 3-on-3 tournament in Nashville on 31 January.
Ditching the “fantasy draft” format in favour of the fast-paced new overtime rule, the top stars from each division will face off to determine the top division in the NHL. The winner of the East Division (Atlantic and Metropolitan) and West Division (Central and Pacific) will meet in a final game, with bragging rights and a $1 million prize on the line. A fan vote determined the team captain for each division, with the NHL selecting the remaining players, with a minimum one player from each team represented.
From the perspective of the IHLC, there are players from seven different countries playing in the game, 28 of whom have held the IHLC at least once in their careers, including seven Canadian players that won World Championship Gold (Burns, Duchene, Ekblad, Giroux, Hall, O’Reilly and Seguin) last year in Prague. The Central Division team leads with nine of their eleven players (all but captain Kane and Dustin Byfuglien) being former IHLC champions.
| EASTERN CONFERENCE | |
| ATLANTIC |
METROPOLITAN |
| GOALTENDERS | |
| 🇺🇸 Ben Bishop (Lightning) | 🇨🇦 Braden Holtby (Capitals) |
| 🇨🇦 Roberto Luongo* (Panthers) | 🇺🇸 Corey Schneider (Devils) |
| DEFENCEMEN | |
| 🇨🇦 Aaron Ekblad* (Panthers) | 🇺🇸 Justin Faulk* (Hurricanes) |
| 🇸🇪 Erik Karlsson (Senators) | 🇨🇦 Kris Letang (Penguins) |
| 🇨🇦 P.K. Subban* (Canadiens) | 🇺🇸 Ryan McDonagh (Rangers) |
| FORWARDS | |
| 🇨🇦 Patrice Bergeron* (Bruins) | 🇸🇪 Nicklas Bäckström (Capitals) |
| 🇨🇿 Jaromír Jágr* (Panthers) | 🇨🇦 Claude Giroux* (Flyers) |
| 🇫🇮 Leo Komarov* (Maple Leafs) | 🇷🇺 Yevgeni Malkin* (Penguins) |
| 🇺🇸 Dylan Larkin (Red Wings) | 🇷🇺 🇷🇺 Yevgeni Kuznetsov* (Capitals) |
| 🇨🇦 Ryan O’Reilly* (Sabres) | 🇺🇸 Brandon Saad (Blue Jackets) |
| 🇨🇦 Steven Stamkos* (Lightning) | 🇨🇦 John Tavares* (Islanders) |
| WESTERN CONFERENCE | |
| CENTRAL |
PACIFIC |
| GOALTENDERS | |
| 🇨🇦 Devan Dubnyk* (Wild) | 🇺🇸 John Gibson (Ducks) |
| 🇫🇮 Pekka Rinne* (Predators) | 🇺🇸 Jonathan Quick (Kings) |
| DEFENCEMEN | |
| 🇺🇸 Dustin Byfuglien (Jets) | 🇨🇦 Brent Burns* (Sharks) |
| 🇨🇭 Roman Josi* (Predators) | 🇨🇦 Drew Doughty* (Kings) |
| 🇨🇦 Shea Weber* (Predators) | 🇨🇦 Mark Giordano* (Flames) |
| FORWARDS | |
| 🇨🇦 Jamie Benn* (Stars) | 🇺🇸 Johnny Gaudreau (Flames) |
| 🇨🇦 Matt Duchene* (Avalanche) | 🇨🇦 Taylor Hall* (Oilers) |
| 🇺🇸 Patrick Kane (Blackhawks) | 🇺🇸 Joe Pavelski (Sharks) |
| 🇨🇦 Tyler Seguin* (Stars) | 🇨🇦 Corey Perry* (Ducks) |
| 🇷🇺 Vladimir Tarasenko* (Blues) | 🇨🇦 John Scott (Coyotes1) |
| 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 James Neal* (Predators) |
🇸🇪 Daniel Sedin* (Canucks) |
Bold denotes team captain. A star (*) denotes players that have held the International Hockey Lineal Championship at least once. A strikethrough (example) through the player’s name denotes the player is injured and will be unable to play, replacements are listed below original selection.
1 Despite being traded to the Montréal Canadiens, the NHL has confirmed that Scott will remain as captain for the Pacific Division, and the Coyotes’ representative.
Photo Credit: League It To Us – IIHF – HHOF – IOC
International Hockey Lineal Championship 