NHL All-Star game 2007 rosters announced

 

NHL PR

 

Veteran All-Star goaltender Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils heads the list of 15 players added to the Eastern Conference roster for the 2007 NHL All-Star Game, Wednesday, Jan. 24 at American Airlines Center in Dallas (8 p.m. ET, VERSUS, CBC, RDS, NHL Radio).

Brodeur will be making his ninth career All-Star Game appearance, fourth on the all-time goaltenders list behind Glenn Hall (13), Terry Sawchuk (11) and Patrick Roy (11). Entering the contest with a 3-1 record in his eight All-Star Game appearances, Brodeur could match Hall's record total of four career victories.

The 34-year-old Montreal native is enjoying another superb season, leading the League in victories (26), shutouts (seven), minutes (2,524) and shots faced (1,187), ranking second in goals-against average (2.07) and third in save percentage (.927). Brodeur has moved into second place on the League's all-time victories list with 472, passing Terry Sawchuk and Ed Belfour since the start of the season, and has jumped to third on the all-time shutouts list with 87, passing Alex Connell, Tiny Thompson, Jacques Plante and Glenn Hall.

Also selected to the Eastern Conference roster were five players making their All-Star Game debut: forwards Eric Staal and Justin Williams from the Stanley Cup-champion Carolina Hurricanes, goaltender Cristobal Huet of the Montreal Canadiens, defenseman Jay Bouwmeester of the Florida Panthers and forward Jason Blake of the New York Islanders.

Others named to the Eastern Conference roster were: defensemen Brian Rafalski of the Devils, Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins and Tomas Kaberle of the Toronto Maple Leafs plus forwards Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Marian Hossa of the Atlanta Thrashers, Dany Heatley of the Ottawa Senators, Simon Gagne of the Philadelphia Flyers and Brendan Shanahan of the New York Rangers.

The roster additions were selected by the NHL’s Hockey Operations Department, after consultation with League General Managers.

The players selected join the six players voted by the fans to the starting lineup. Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby, the NHL’s leading vote-getter in All-Star fan balloting, is joined by forward Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, goaltender Ryan Miller, defenseman Brian Campbell and forward Daniel Briere from the Buffalo Sabres, and defenseman Sheldon Souray of the Montreal Canadiens.

The head coach of the Eastern Conference All-Stars is the Sabres' Lindy Ruff, making his second career All-Star Game appearance. Ruff's assistant is Thrashers head coach Bob Hartley.

The 2007 NHL All-Star Celebration, hosted by the American Airlines Center in Dallas, will feature live national broadcasts of the NHL YoungStars Game presented by Upper Deck and Dodge Nitro/NHL SuperSkills event on Tuesday, Jan. 23, and the NHL All-Star Game on Wednesday, Jan. 24 on VERSUS in the United States and CBC and RDS in Canada. NASN, the NHL’s exclusive broadcast partner in Europe,will provide live coverage of the Dodge Nitro/NHL SuperSkills event and the NHL All-Star Game to more than 25 countries and territories in Europe. NHL RADIO on Westwood One will provide exclusive, national radio coverage in the United States and Canada, while Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio each will provide radio play-by-play coverage of the game.


2007 EASTERN CONFERENCE ALL-STAR ROSTER
(statistics through games of Jan. 12, 2007)

2006-07 Statistics All-Star
GOALTENDERS GP W L OT GAA Appearance
* Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres 32 22 7 2 2.62 1st
Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils 42 26 13 3 2.07 9th
Cristobal Huet, Montreal Canadiens 31 17 8 3 2.46 1st

2006-07 Statistics All-Star
DEFENSEMEN GP G A Pts Appearance
* Brian Campbell, Buffalo Sabres 44 5 21 26 1st
* Sheldon Souray, Montreal Canadiens 43 14 23 37 2nd
Jay Bouwmeester, Florida Panthers 46 6 16 22 1st
Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins 39 8 18 26 2nd
Tomas Kaberle, Toronto Maple Leafs 45 8 29 37 2nd
Brian Rafalski, New Jersey Devils 44 2 27 29 2nd

2006-07 Statistics All-Star
FORWARDS GP G A Pts Appearance
* Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins 39 21 44 65 1st
* Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals 44 28 33 61 1st
* Daniel Briere, Buffalo Sabres 44 16 35 51 1st
Jason Blake, New York Islanders 43 23 18 41 1st
Simon Gagne, Philadelphia Flyers 44 20 13 33 2nd
Dany Heatley, Ottawa Senators 46 27 31 58 2nd
Marian Hossa, Atlanta Thrashers 46 26 32 58 3rd
Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning 45 26 33 59 2nd
Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning 45 28 31 59 3rd
Brendan Shanahan, New York Rangers 45 24 22 46 8th
Eric Staal, Carolina Hurricanes 46 19 18 37 1st
Justin Williams, Carolina Hurricanes 46 21 20 41 1st

* voted by fans to the Eastern Conference All-Star Team’s starting lineup

Head Coach: Lindy Ruff, Buffalo Sabres
(making second All-Star Game coaching appearance, both as head coach)

Assistant Coach: Bob Hartley, Atlanta Thrashers
(making second All-Star Game coaching appearance, both as assistant)

Right wing Teemu Selanne, the leading scorer on the top-ranked Anaheim Ducks (30-9-7), heads the list of 15 additions to the Western Conference roster for the 2007 NHL All-Star Game, Wednesday, Jan. 24 at American Airlines Center in Dallas (8 p.m. ET, VERSUS, CBC, RDS, NHL Radio).

Selanne will be playing in his 10th career All-Star Game, second among Western Conference players to starting forward Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche, who will be making his 12th career appearance. Selanne earned MVP honors in the 1998 All-Star Game at Vancouver, becoming the first European player to register a hat trick in All-Star competition.

The 36-year-old Helsinki, Finland native is enjoying one of the finest of his 14 NHL seasons, posting 57 points (28 goals, 29 assists) in 46 games. He leads the League in power-play goals (15) and game-winning goals (seven), is tied for the lead in goals (28) and tied for fifth in plus-minus (+21). He tallied his 19th career hat trick in a 5-1 win victory at Dallas Jan. 11 and became the 36th player in NHL history to reach the 500-goal milestone on Nov. 22 at Colorado.

Selected from the All-Star host Dallas Stars were goaltender Marty Turco, who will be appearing in his third All-Star Game, and defenseman Philippe Boucher, a first-time selection.

Eight other players added to the Western Conference roster will be making their All-Star Game debut: goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff and defenseman Dion Phaneuf of the Calgary Flames, defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky of the Los Angeles Kings, and forwards Martin Havlat of the Chicago Blackhawks, Yanic Perreault of the Phoenix Coyotes, Brian Rolston of the Minnesota Wild, Ryan Smyth of the Edmonton Oilers and Henrik Zetterberg of the Detroit Red Wings.

Others named to the Western Conference roster were: defenseman Kimmo Timonen of the Nashville Predators and forwards Bill Guerin of the St. Louis Blues, Patrick Marleau of the San Jose Sharks and Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The roster additions were selected by the NHL’s Hockey Operations Department, after consultation with League General Managers.

The players selected today join Sakic and five other players voted by fans to the starting lineup, forwards Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo of the Sharks, defensemen Scott Niedermayer of the Ducks and Nicklas Lidstrom of the Red Wings, and goaltender Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks.

The head coach of the Western Conference All-Stars will be the Ducks' Randy Carlyle, making his first career All-Star Game coaching appearance. Carlyle's assistant is Predators head coach Barry Trotz.

The 2007 NHL All-Star Celebration, hosted by the American Airlines Center in Dallas, will feature live national broadcasts of the NHL YoungStars Game presented by Upper Deck and Dodge Nitro/NHL SuperSkills event on Tuesday, Jan. 23, and the NHL All-Star Game on Wednesday, Jan. 24 on VERSUS in the United States and CBC and RDS in Canada. NASN, the NHL’s exclusive broadcast partner in Europe,will provide live coverage of the Dodge Nitro/NHL SuperSkills event and the NHL All-Star Game to more than 25 countries and territories in Europe. NHL RADIO on Westwood One will provide exclusive, national radio coverage in the United States and Canada, while Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio each will provide radio play-by-play coverage of the game.


2007 WESTERN CONFERENCE ALL-STAR ROSTER
(statistics through games of Jan. 12, 2007)

2006-07 Statistics All-Star
GOALTENDERS GP W L OT GAA Appearance
* Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks 42 24 6 1 2.50 2nd
Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames 38 21 14 3 2.32 1st
Marty Turco, Dallas Stars 39 21 15 1 2.34 3rd

2006-07 Statistics All-Star
DEFENSEMEN GP G A Pts Appearance
* Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim Ducks 46 8 34 42 4th
* Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings 44 9 26 35 9th
Philippe Boucher, Dallas Stars 44 13 20 33 1st
Dion Phaneuf, Calgary Flames 41 9 16 25 1st
Kimmo Timonen, Nashville Predators 44 8 23 31 2nd
Lubomir Visnovsky, Los Angeles Kings 43 13 23 36 1st

2006-07 Statistics All-Star
FORWARDS GP G A Pts Appearance
* Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks 44 11 42 53 4th
* Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche 43 18 29 47 12th
* Jonathan Cheechoo, San Jose Sharks 38 14 15 29 1st
Bill Guerin, St. Louis Blues 42 18 13 31 4th
Martin Havlat, Chicago Blackhawks 21 13 13 26 1st
Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks 44 20 26 46 2nd
Rick Nash, Columbus Blue Jackets 39 13 17 30 2nd
Yanic Perreault, Phoenix Coyotes 31 14 11 25 1st
Brian Rolston, Minnesota Wild 45 23 18 41 1st
Teemu Selanne, Anaheim Ducks 46 28 29 57 10th
Ryan Smyth, Edmonton Oilers 34 21 12 33 1st
Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings 44 17 16 33 1st

* voted by fans to the Western Conference All-Star Team’s starting lineup

Head Coach: Randy Carlyle, Anaheim Ducks
(making first All-Star Game coaching appearance)

Assistant Coach: Barry Trotz, Nashville Predators
(making first All-Star Game coaching appearance)

 

 

Photo: Martin Brodeur from New Jersey Devils © Guy Argenzio (HV)