2011 National Hockey League All-Star Game

2011 NHL All-Star Game

1 2 3 Total Team Staal 4 2 4 10 Team Lidstrom 4 3 4 11
Date	January 30, 2011
Arena	RBC Center
City	Raleigh
MVP	Patrick Sharp (Chicago)
Attendance	18,680
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The 2011 National Hockey League All-Star Game (also known as the 2011 National Hockey League All-Star Game presented by Discover

The 2011 version of the All-Star Game featured a break from the traditional way in which teams were organized. Instead of using conferences or player nationalities as in the past, teams were selected by captains in a fantasy draft days prior to the game. Fans still elected players to the All-Star Game, but instead of the traditional 12 starters (six for each team), they elected only six players, with the remaining 36 players involved in the game selected by the NHL. Sidney Crosby received the most votes of any player, but due to a concussion he was unable to participate in the game. The participating players voted for team captains, selecting Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings and Eric Staal of the Hurricanes.

Staal won the first pick in the draft and selected longtime teammate

Team Lidstrom won the game 11–10, the 21 combined goals was the fourth highest total scored in an NHL All-Star Game. The first

The awarding of the All-Star Game fulfilled a nine-year-old promise Bettman made to the city of Raleigh. In 2001, he promised the organization that they would host an All-Star Game if the season ticket base reached 12,000.[6] After reaching that plateau, Bettman indicated that other community assets were still required to secure a bid. Most notably, a proper convention center for ancillary events was needed, along with a four-star hotel, which was completed in 2009 with the new Raleigh Convention Center and adjoining Raleigh Marriott City Center in downtown Raleigh.^[5]

Three months after receiving the All-Star Game, the Hurricanes unveiled the logo for the 2011 game. The logo was designed with some homage to the host team and city hidden within it. The shape of the logo is similar to the Hurricanes primary logo, along with the team colors of red, black and silver. The banners at the top and bottom of the logo are inspired by the state flag of North Carolina.^[7]

The NHL and the city of Raleigh also presented a three-day festival to coincide with All-Star weekend called NHL All-Star Wide Open. The festivities include a series of free concerts, headlined by the band

New format

On November 10, 2010, the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) unveiled a new format for selecting the NHL All-Star teams: the traditional conference format was replaced by a "fantasy draft."^[10] Fans voted for six players, from either conference (three forwards, two defencemen and one goaltender), and the NHL selected another 36 players, for a total of 42 players. The chosen players then appointed two captains; the NHL and NHLPA, with input from the players, named two alternate captains for each team.^[11] Each team had two forwards and one defenceman as its captain and alternates. The captains and alternates selected their team members in a fantasy-style draft held on January 28, 2011. The first pick was determined by a coin toss, with alternating picks after the first. Teams consisted of three goaltenders, six defencemen and 12 forwards. Although the draft rules did not dictate a strict order in which positions had to be filled, to guarantee the final picks were not constrained by having to satisfy roster composition rules, the teams' three goaltenders had to be chosen by the end of round ten, and all defencemen had to be chosen by the end of round 15.^[1] According to NHL Vice President of Hockey and Business Development Brendan Shanahan, the new format was introduced to add excitement and intrigue into all the events, while make it more fun for everyone involved.^[12]

For 2011, the NHL eliminated the

During the All-Star weekend, the NHL announced a new "superhero franchise", The Guardian Project. Created by comic book writer Stan Lee, the project featured 30 new superheroes representing the 30 NHL teams, all which were unveiled at the All-Star Game. The goal of the project was to appeal to pre-teen and teenage boys in hopes of bringing in "new audience to the NHL, while engaging the existing, established hockey fan base through a compelling tale of good vs. evil."^[15][16]

Voting

One hundred players were chosen to be on the ballot for the All-Star Game (minimum of two players from each team), but fans were also given the option to write in any player who was not listed.

After naming the remaining All-Stars, each player voted for team captains. The players selected the 12-time All-Star, Nicklas Lidstrom, and the captain of the host Carolina Hurricanes, Eric Staal. Lidstrom was assigned the home blue uniforms while Staal received the away whites.^[22] The NHL further named their alternate captains, placing Ryan Kesler and Mike Green with Staal while Patrick Kane and Martin St. Louis joined Team Lidstrom.^[11] Prior to the draft, the NHL determined head coaches for the teams via a coin toss. Chicago's Joel Quenneville and his assistant, Mike Haviland, were named coaches as a result of winning the Stanley Cup last year. Philadelphia Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette and the Vancouver Canucks' Alain Vigneault earned the distinction by having the highest winning percentage through January 8, 2011.^[1] After the coin toss, Quenneville was assigned to Team Staal, while Laviolette and Vigneault were given Team Lidstrom.^[23]

Team Staal won the first pick in the draft, and Eric Staal chose longtime teammate Cam Ward with his first pick.^[24] With the fifth pick in the draft, Team Staal selected Daniel Sedin. His twin brother Henrik was taken with the next pick by Team Lidstrom. The All-Star Game marked the first time the two have ever played against each other in an organized game.^[25] Throughout the draft, Eric Staal selected players that had a personal connection with him. He selected his brother, Rangers defenceman Marc Staal, in the seventh round, fellow Thunder Bay native Patrick Sharp in the eighth round, and teammate Jeff Skinner in the 11th round.^[24] The last player selected was Toronto's Phil Kessel. As a reward for being the last selection, he was given a new car and $20,000 was given to the charity of his choice. Kessel stated he would put the money toward a cancer charity he became involved with in 2006 when he was battling testicular cancer.^[26] When the time came for the rookies to decide which team they would participate in the skills competition, Taylor Hall, who won the right via a puck flip, chose Team Lidstrom for his group.^[27] All players were allowed to wear the numbers they use in their respective teams. For Team Lidstrom, Henrik Sedin and Dustin Byfuglien both wore number 33, while Brad Richards and Steven Stamkos wore number 91. Team Staal had three pairs having same number: Patrick Sharp and Corey Perry with number 10, Daniel Sedin and Dan Boyle with number 22 and Paul Stastny and Patrik Elias with number 26. The complete team rosters are listed below with players appearing in the order in which they were chosen.^[28][29]

Team Staal Round Nat. Player Team Pos. Num. C Eric Staal Carolina Hurricanes C 12 A Mike Green Washington Capitals D 52 A Ryan Kesler Vancouver Canucks C 17 1 Cam Ward Carolina Hurricanes G 30 2 Alexander Ovechkin Washington Capitals LW 8 3 Daniel Sedin Vancouver Canucks LW 22 4 Zdeno Chara Boston Bruins D 33 5 Rick Nash Columbus Blue Jackets RW 61 6 Henrik Lundqvist New York Rangers G 30 7 Marc Staal New York Rangers D 18 8 Patrick Sharp Chicago Blackhawks LW 10 9 Dan Boyle San Jose Sharks D 22 10 Carey Price Montreal Canadiens G 31 11 Jeff Skinner[E] Carolina Hurricanes C 53 12 Kris Letang Pittsburgh Penguins D 58 13 Claude Giroux Philadelphia Flyers RW 28 14 Erik Karlsson Ottawa Senators D 65 15 Corey Perry Anaheim Ducks RW 10 16 Patrik Elias New Jersey Devils LW 26 17 David Backes St. Louis Blues RW 42 18 Paul Stastny[D] Colorado Avalanche C 26 – Head coach: Joel Quenneville – – – Assistant coach: Mike Haviland – – Team Staal Rookies Nat. Player Team Pos. Num. Logan Couture San Jose Sharks C 29 Tyler Ennis Buffalo Sabres LW 63 Michael Grabner New York Islanders RW 40 Jamie McBain[F] Carolina Hurricanes D 4 Tyler Seguin Boston Bruins C 19 P. K. Subban[G] Montreal Canadiens D 76

Team Lidstrom Round Nat. Player Team Pos. Num. C Nicklas Lidstrom Detroit Red Wings D 5 A Patrick Kane Chicago Blackhawks RW 88 A Martin St. Louis Tampa Bay Lightning RW 26 1 Steven Stamkos Tampa Bay Lightning C 91 2 Duncan Keith Chicago Blackhawks D 2 3 Henrik Sedin Vancouver Canucks C 33 4 Shea Weber Nashville Predators D 6 5 Tim Thomas Boston Bruins G 30 6 Daniel Briere[A] Philadelphia Flyers RW 48 7 Dustin Byfuglien Atlanta Thrashers D 33 8 Jonathan Toews Chicago Blackhawks C 19 9 Marc-Andre Fleury Pittsburgh Penguins G 29 10 Jonas Hiller Anaheim Ducks G 1 11 Brad Richards Dallas Stars C 91 12 Keith Yandle[B] Phoenix Coyotes D 3 13 Brent Burns Minnesota Wild D 8 14 Martin Havlat[C] Minnesota Wild LW 14 15 Anze Kopitar Los Angeles Kings C 11 16 Matt Duchene Colorado Avalanche C 9 17 Loui Eriksson Dallas Stars LW 21 18 Phil Kessel Toronto Maple Leafs RW 81 – Co-head coach: Alain Vigneault – – – Co-head coach: Peter Laviolette – – Team Lidstrom Rookies Nat. Player Team Pos. Num. Taylor Hall Edmonton Oilers LW 4 Cam Fowler Anaheim Ducks D 4 Evgeny Dadonov Florida Panthers RW 63 Oliver Ekman-Larsson Phoenix Coyotes D 23 Kevin Shattenkirk Colorado Avalanche D 8 Derek Stepan New York Rangers C 21

Withdrawn

Prior to the draft several players withdrew due to injury or, in the case of Jarome Iginla, family concerns.

SuperSkills Competition

The

The scoring started early in the game as Team Staal's

Team Staal recaptured the lead early in the second with goals by Patrick Sharp and Kris Letang. They were unable to hold the lead though as Team Lidstrom tied the game at six with a second goal from Kopitar and one by Steven Stamkos. They quickly took their first lead on a goal by Daniel Briere just 1:20 later, ending the period up 7–6.^[39]

Early in the third period Eric Staal tied the game at seven with his first goal of the game.

W – Tim Thomas L – Henrik Lundqvist

Key

• Player1 (Player2, Player3) 1:00 denotes that Player1 scored a goal after 1:00, with assists from Player2 and Player3.
• GWG denotes the game-winning goal.
• EN denotes an empty net goal
• W denotes the goaltender awarded the win.
• L denotes the goaltender assigned the loss.

Source: NHL^[39]

Notes

^ A: Briere was named as a replacement for Iginla.^[43]
^ B: Yandle was named as a replacement for Enstrom.^[44]
^ C: Havlat was named as a replacement for Hemsky.^[45]
^ D: Stastny was named as a replacement for Crosby.^[46]
^ E: Skinner was named as a replacement for Malkin.^[46]
^ F: McBain replaced Eberle on the rookie team.^[46]
^ G: Subban was named as a replacement for Skinner who was promoted from the rookie team to the All-Star Game.^[47]
^ H: Chara's shot was 105.9 mph (170.4 km/h), a new record.^[38]

References