The NHL All-Star Game, set to take place on Jan. 31, recently announced the four team captains from the four divisions of the NHL.
The new format, a 3-on-3 tournament, will feature all four divisional teams competing against each other in a winner-take-all format. The East-West matchup will remain, as the Atlantic and Metropolitan Divisions will oppose each other in one game and the Central and Pacific Divisions in another. The winner of each will face-off in a championship game.
Flyers captain Claude Giroux will represent the Flyers at the All-Star Game in Nashville, making his fourth career All-Star appearance. Giroux has 12 goals and 17 assists this season for 29 points, tops on the Flyers through 38 games.
The four captains by division were selected in a fan vote and unveiled last Saturday. Alex Ovechkin will captain the Metropolitan team. Patrick Kane will captain the Central team.
The remaining two captains are still a question of sorts. Because the captains were voted on by fans, there is always the chance that an unlikely player will be chosen. Jaromir Jagr was voted as captain of the Atlantic team, but had previously said that while the votes were flattering, he didn't plan to play in the 3-on-3 tournament. John Scott, who has one assist in 11 games with the Arizona Coyotes, was selected as the Pacific captain. Though he originally said he was going to defer the vote to someone more deserving, Scott said he would play given the response from fans to get him to the game.
The rest of the rosters are as follows:
Metropolitan
- Forwards: Alex Ovechkin (WSH), Claude Giroux (PHI), Nicklas Backstrom (WSH), Evgeni Malkin (PIT), Brandon Saad (CBJ), John Tavares (NYI)
- Defense: Justin Faulk (CAR), Kris Letang (PIT), Ryan McDonagh (NYR)
- Goalies: Braden Holtby (WSH), Cory Schneider (NJD)
Atlantic
- Forwards: Jaromir Jagr (FLA), Patrice Bergeron (BOS), Leo Komarov (TOR), Dylan Larkin (DET), Ryan O'Reilly (BUF), Steven Stamkos (TB)
- Defense: Aaron Ekblad (FLA), Erik Karlsson (OTT), P.K. Subban (MTL)
- Goalies: Ben Bishop (TB), Roberto Luongo (FLA)
Central
- Forwards: Patrick Kane (CHI), Jamie Benn (DAL), Matt Duchene (COL), Tyler Seguin (DAL), Vladimir Tarasenko (STL), Jonathan Toews (CHI)
- Defense: Dustin Byfuglien (WPG), Roman Josi (NSH), Shea Weber (NSH)
- Goalies: Devan Dubnyk (MIN), Pekka Rinne (NSH)
Pacific
- Forwards: John Scott (ARI), Johnny Gaudreau (CGY), Taylor Hall (EDM), Joe Pavelski (SJ), Corey Perry (ANA), Daniel Sedin (VAN)
- Defense: Brent Burns (SJ), Drew Doughty (LA), Mark Giordano (CGY)
- Goalies: John Gibson (ANA), Jonathan Quick (LA)
The All-Star Skills Competition will be held on Saturday, Jan. 30, at 7 p.m. and the All-Star Game will be on Sunday, Jan. 31, at 5 p.m.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
