There was a little suspense during last night's All-Star Fantasy Draft as Rangers forward Marian Gaborik remained on the board into the later rounds of the selection process, with Henrik Lundqvist still needing to fill a few forward slots as the assistant captain of Team Alfedsson. As I suggested on Twitter, it seemed as if Lundqvist and Gaborik had the wish of competing against each other this weekend, which Lundqvist would later confirm to be true.
Gaborik would ultimately be selected by fellow Slovak Zdeno Chara, therefore granting his wish of going against his goaltender back in New York. Following the draft, the two exchanged some trash talk leading up to the weekend's festivities....
Joining Lundqvist on Team Alfredsson will also be Rangers forward Carl Hagelin. Hagelin's squad of rookies - captained by Sean Couturier of the Flyers - was paired with what ended up becoming the hometown team, and will be going up against Team Chara and its rookies during Saturday's Skills Competition.
Hagelin spoke about All-Star Weekend and his success thus far following the draft....
As for me, I am scheduled to fly out to Ottawa later this afternoon and from there will be picking up my press credentials. As you know, The Rangers Tribune will be your home for all of the latest All-Star related news and analysis as I will be bringing you live coverage from behind-the-scenes in Ottawa.
I'm going to do my best to reach out to each member of the Rangers, including head coach John Tortorella, for an interview but I cannot make any guarantees. Hagelin seems like he has a lot to say, so he may be my main target on Saturday night.
I'll be sure to let you all know via Twitter (@NickMonteRT) when I have an interview going up on the blog, and will also be updating the "Latest All-Star News" box on top of the site with links to my latest material (newest listed first). I figured that would be the easiest way for everyone to see and access the most recent content over the course of the weekend.
See ya in Ottawa!
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