The Rangers Tribune

Live Blog: 2012 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft

TEAM ALFREDSSON

Captain: Daniel Alfredsson

Assistant Captain: Henrik Lundqvist

1. Erik Karlsson, D
2. Jason Spezza, F
3. Jonathan Quick, G
4. Claude Giroux, F
5. Kris Letang, D
6. Steven Stamkos, F
7. Brian Elliot, G
8. Shea Weber, D
9. Daniel Sedin, F
10. Dan Girardi, D
11. Keith Yandle, D
12. Milan Michalek, F
13. Henrik Sedin, F
14. James Neal, F
15. Alex Edler, D
16. John Tavares, F
17. Scott Hartnell, F
18. Jason Pominville, F
19. Logan Couture, F (last overall)

Rookies: Sean Couturier, Carl Hagelin, Justin Faulk, Nick Johnson, Matt Read, Craig Smith

TEAM CHARA

Captain: Zdeno Chara

Assistant Captain: Joffrey Lupul

1. Pavel Datsyuk, F (1st overall)
2. Tim Thomas, G
3. Evgeni Malkin, F
4. Marian Hossa, F
5. Kimmo Timonen, D
6. Corey Perry, F
7. Carey Price, G
8. Phil Kessel, F
9. Ryan Suter, D
10. Jimmy Howard, G
11. Brian Campbell, D
12. Parick Kane, F
13. Dion Phaneuf, D
14. Jarome Iginla, F
15. Dennis Wideman, D
16. Marian Gaborik, F
17. Jordan Eberle, F
18. Tyler Seguin, F
19. Jamie Benn, F

Rookies: Luke Adam, Colin Greening, Cody Hogdson, Gabriel Landeskog, Raphael Diaz, Ryan Johansen

Carl Hagelin Added to All-Star Rookie Team

New York Rangers forward Carl Hagelin has been added to the 2012 NHL Youngstars team, which is comprised of the top performing rookies around the league this season. Hagelin is being added as an injury replacement and will be making the trip to Ottawa with teammates Marian Gaborik, Dan Girardi and Henrik Lundqvist, as well as head coach John Tortorella, for this weekend's All-Star fesitivities. The funny part about this? The news was actually broke by defenseman Ryan McDonagh via Twitter. 

It is my understanding that the NHL will again be excluding the actual rookie game like they did last year, and that the rookies will only be participating in the skills competition on Saturday. My money is on Hagelin winning the fastest skater competition by a long stretch. Who's beating him?

In 29 games played with the Rangers this season, Hagelin has recorded eight goals and eight assists for 16 points. From the day the 23-year-old Swede was recalled from the Connecticut Whale (AHL), he's made an instant impact on this hockey club with his speed and electricity. As coach Tortorella put it, he brings life to each and every line he is put on, and as a rookie that is quite the compliment to be getting from your head coach. 

It may not seem like much, but I'm sure this means a lot to Carl to be recognized as one of the top freshman in the league this year. Being a rookie in this league is not an easy thing to do, especially when you are on the first place team in the Eastern Conference. You all are well aware of the competition to earn and maintain a roster spot on the Rangers right now, and Hags has come in and beat most of it out. To put it simply, he's been an outstanding player who has embedded himself in the core in just 29 games. 

That's All-Star material if you ask me. 

And as you probably know by now, I will be in Ottawa this weekend bringing you behind-the-scenes coverage with press credentials, so I will definitely make Hagelin a target of mine. Last year my job was fairly easy only having to focus in on Henrik Lundqvist and Marc Staal (and Derek Stepan on rookie team), but this year I have to cover a lengthy lineup of Blueshirts. I guess it's not something I necessarily should be complaining about, though.

Lundqvist Named Assistant Captain for All-Star Weekend

New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist has been named the assistant captain of Daniel Alfredsson's team for the 2012 All-Star Weekend in Ottawa next week. It was pretty much a given that these two would end up on the same team anyway being that they are great friends out of the Swedish Hockey system, but now they will take that a step further as captain and assistant captain. 

Here's the description of Lundqvist's role from the NHL:

The Assistant Captains will assist with the team selection process during the 2012 Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft™ on Thursday, Jan. 26 (8 p.m., ET, TSN, RDS, NBC Sports Network) and will help their Captains set their team rosters and lineups for the 2012 Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Skills Competition™ on Saturday, Jan. 28 (7 p.m., ET, CBC, RDS, NBC Sports Network) and the 2012 Tim Hortons NHL® All-Star Game on Sunday, Jan. 29 (4 p.m., ET, CBC, RDS, NBC Sports Network).

The Rangers are extremely well represented in this year's All-Star Weekend. John Tortorella will be one of the coaches, they will have three players there in Lundqvist, Marian Gaborik and Girardi, and Hank is now an assistant captain as well. I guess those are the benfits of being in first place. 

Joffrey Lupul has been named the assistant captain of Zdeno Chara's team. 

* Also, if you didn't already know, I will be headed to Ottawa next week with press credentials, so I will be taking you in the locker rooms and behind the scenes throughout the weekend. 

Rangers-Bruins Pregame

Lundqvist, Gaborik and Girardi Named to All-Star Game

The National Hockey League just released the complete roster for the 2012 NHL All-Star Game, and representing the Rangers will be goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, forward Marian Gaborik and defenseman Dan Girardi. 

To view the complete roster, click here. 

Also, here's my article from this morning on why Girardi deserves the honor. 

Dan Girardi Should be an All-Star

The National Hockey League will be announcing the remaining participants for the 2012 All-Star weekend in Ottawa later today. There are two Rangers that most definitely will be on the list when it comes up, and those are goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and winger Marian Gaborik. Both players have had tremendous seasons at the midway point and are main reasons why their team leads the entire league with a 27-9-4 record right now. There are three definites if you include Carl Hagelin, who must be included on the rookie team, because he's had a stellar year since being recalled as well. 

In addition to those three, there is also one "maybe", and that's defenseman Dan Girardi. Head coach John Tortorella has publicly stated that Girardi deserves to be an All-Star time and time again to the media. Torts was fed up with Dan being overlooked as a top blue-liner in the league, so the coach was doing his best to bring him some attention. It worked, because many All-Star projections I have seen as of late have Girardi on their rosters. 

The two that stood out to me were NHL.com's projections, which had all four Rangers making it, and Yahoo!'s Puck Daddy, which had the same. Puck Daddy even went on to explain his pick of Girardi...

Girardi is the epitome of the merit-based choice for an All-Star Game. An unsung hero for the Rangers, one of the best teams in the NHL, and a guy who deserves the rub. Plus, maybe his toddler will enter the hardest shot competition.

It's true. Girardi may be blue-collar, but he's been the best Ranger defeseman all season, especially while Marc Staal was out of the lineup. Dan puts in ridiculous minutes for the Rangers each night, he blocks shots, he joins the offense, he's a solid hitter and he is a great locker room personality. He's done it all for the New York Rangers this season. 

Also, with John Tortorella being one of the coaches, I think there may be some more pull from the NHL to get Girardi in there. I find that a coach's team normally gets a significant number of players asked to participate in the game, so that may be the case with Torts and Girardi here. 

Either way, he deserves the honor and I really hope he gets it. 

Four Rangers Make NHL All-Star Ballot (UPDATE)

It seems early for this, but the National Hockey League has released the voting ballot for the 2012 All-Star Game that will take place in Ottawa, Ontario in January. Representing the New York Rangers on the ballot are goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, defenseman Marc Staal and forwards Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards. 

Right away you notice the absence of forward Ryan Callahan and defenseman Dan Girardi, but fear not as there will be a write-in option come November 14 when the voting opens, just as there was last year. I think to begin with, though, Girardi should have been on there instead of Marc Staal, because even if Marc did return from his concussion by then, there's no way in hell he or the Rangers will want him playing in that game and taking risks. 

I feel like the players who did make the ballot -- and this applies to all teams/players -- made it simply because of their names. Don't get me wrong, many of them deserve it, but a lot can happen over the next two months to impact who deserves to go to Ottawa in January. For this reason I think it is a little early to be releasing the ballot, but I cannot recall when it was released last year. 

Lundqvist and Gaborik will most definitely make it for the Rangers, and Richards is a possibility. To me, I personally think Artem Anisimov should get in over Richards based on what we've seen of them so far, but that likely will not happen. Many Ranger fans will be writing-in Callahan and Girardi, so they probably have a legitimate shot as well.

I guess we'll have to start up more campaigns, just as we did with Sean Avery last year. 

See the entire All-Star ballot here. 

UPDATE: SPECIAL TICKET OFFER FOR TOMORROW'S GAME AGAINST CAROLINA!

With the Rangers in the midst of a 5 game winning streak average price for tomorrow night's game vs Carolina is up 24% this week, sitting at $214/ticket.  Want to check out The Garden's new look without it costing an arm and a leg?  Thanks to TiqIQ's "Pick Your Price" feature, with an offer of around $120/ticket you can save over $100 on two "3-star" tickets + No service or shipping fees!  But you better act fast because this offer ends tonight at 7!  CLICK HERE to take advantage!

Photo Collection: Rangers Tribune's 2011 NHL All-Star Weekend, Vol. 2

Yesterday we brought you volume one of our photo collection live from All-Star Weekend here in Raleigh, North Carolina. Today, with the festivities wrapping up last night, we recap our experience with volume two. Take a look....

In volume one we brought you pictures of the environment outside of the arena, but in volume two we bring you pictures inside of the RBC Center and in the locker rooms. First up is Carolina's version of Justin Bieber - Jeff Skinner - after Saturday's skills competition.

Ever wonder what a player's perspective is when walking through the tunnel onto the ice? Well now you know.

Here's the Rangers' own Henrik Lundqvist preparing for Sunday's All-Star Game at his locker. Creepy that I am snapping pictures of Hank without him knowing? Maybe a little, but it's not everyday you have the chance to get a shot of that.

Team Staal poses at center ice for a club photo before Sunday's All-Star Game.

Team Lidstrom does the same.

Both teams stand at the blue-lines of the RBC Center as the National Anthem is sung before the game.

Last but not least is Ranger defenseman Marc Staal being questioned by media after the All-Star Game.

This officially puts a wrap on our live All-Star Weekend coverage from Raleigh. I hope you enjoyed the experience as much as I did, but hats off to the people of Carolina. It is disappointing that it took a major event like this for the Caniacs' dedication to be recognized, but now that it is, they deserve a lot of credit. They welcomed foreign fans with open arms and made us all feel at home.

So take a bow, Caniacs. You were incredible hosts.

=============================================================

Follow me on Twitter or e-mail me at nmontemagno@rangerstribune.com

Photo Collection: Rangers Tribune's 2011 NHL All-Star Weekend, Vol.1

The guys over at Yahoo!'s Puck Daddy did a photo expedition to share their experience at All-Star Weekend so far, so I decided I would do something similar here on The Rangers Tribune. Here it is..

This is the display in the hotel lobby that I was greeted by upon arriving on Friday night. Needless to say, I was overjoyed when I saw King Henrik front and center there.

That's right, they built an actual rink in downtown Raleigh for fans to skate on. How awesome is that?

This was taken at the NHL FainFair located at the local convention center. They had a display of fake lockers with all of the players' equipment. Obviously this was Henrik Lundqvist's stuff. I was very tempted to suit up.

The streets here in Raleigh are lined with all of the flags of every NHL team. Here is the Ranger flag.

The rivalry lives on, even in North Carolina. I saw those two youngsters with their Lundqvist and Brodeur sweaters and just had to take a snapshot.

Here is the RBC Center before Saturday's SuperSkills Competition. Really a great sight with the players and logo printed on the glass like that.

And lastly, had a few minutes with the Stanley Cup this morning at breakfast. Above is the New York Rangers' 93-94 Cup Championship engraving. Don't worry, I didn't touch it.

Hope you enjoyed my little photo collage here. I will do another one tomorrow as I will surely be taking more pictures today before the actual All-Star Game.

Also, if you did not catch my SuperSkills recap with thoughts from Lundqvist and Marc Staal, you can do so here.

=============================================================

Follow me on Twitter or e-mail me at nmontemagno@rangerstribune.com

Pregame Notes: 2011 NHL All-Star Game Edition

Getty Images

RALEIGH, NC -- Friday's Player Draft was a lot of fun, Saturday's red carpet and SuperSkills were entertaining, but they were only lead-ups to the main event -- this afternoon's 58h Annual NHL All-Star Game.

This tilt between Team Staal and Team Lidstrom will be the first time the Eastern Conference and Western Conference players will mesh to form two multi-conference clubs. Vice President of Hockey and Business Development Brendan Shanahan is the mastermind behind it all and believes the new format will create more excitement surrounding the game and also gain the interest of the players more than in years past.

Following Friday's draft, many went ahead and predicted Team Lidstrom as the sure winners of today's contest. However, Team Staal made it clear that they are comfortable playing the role of underdog when they were victorious in last night's SuperSkills Competition by an 11-point deficit.

Team Lidstrom alternate captain Martin St. Louis downplayed the defeat, though, by making this statement to Dave Lozo of NHL.com: "We built this team to win the game, not the skills competition."

So clearly the players are taking this game to heart and the level of competition is quite high. And then of course you have all of the headlines going in that make the match-up even more intriguing thanks to the media build-up.

Captain Eric Staal and brother Marc Staal of the New York Rangers will play together for the very first time in this game, so that is something that each of them are looking forward to. I got the chance to ask Marc about the opportunity last night...

"It should be fun," said Marc. "I'm pretty excited about it. Obviously it's an All-Star Game, which is a little different than playing a regular game, but I've never played with him before so I am looking forward to it".

Another major storyline is Henrik and Daniel Sedin being split up for the first time in their careers. The twins are one of the more dynamic duos that the National Hockey League has ever seen, but now they will faceoff against each other much to the pleasure of the fans, and maybe themselves as well.

This event is designed to bring out the inner personality and skill of the most talented players around the league, but I think these two teams are going to be pushing hard for the victory. The prize will be nothing more than bragging rights, but for these guys - who I have noticed are more like kids as I have spent more time around them - that is enough.

Enjoy the game everyone, and stop by here later today for a postgame recap including quotes from the locker rooms.

=============================================================

Follow me on Twitter or e-mail me at nmontemagno@rangerstribune.com

Recapping the 2011 All-Star Game; Lundqvist and Staal Share Their Thoughts

Getty Images

RALEIGH, NC -- The atmosphere inside of the RBC Center this evening for the 58th Annual NHL All-Star Game was marvelous. The "Let's Go Staal" chants were roaring through the building before the puck even dropped, and once it did, the ovations for hometown players Eric Staal, Cam Ward and Jeff Skinner were extraordinary. The excitement kept pace throughout the game as it wasn't until the final seconds that Team Lidstrom was decided the winner, 11-10.

Alexander Ovechkin put the game's first goal in the net just 50 seconds after the opening faceoff. Team Staal went on to score an additional three unanswered goals on Marc-Andre Fleury after that to grab a 4-0 lead.

Team Lidstrom eventually battled back before the buzzer, though, getting four straight goals from Anze Kopitar, Dustin Byfuglien, Loui Eriksson and Matt Duchene. A 4-4 tie was the way the two clubs entered the first intermission.

Patrick Sharp and Kris Letang opened the second with back-to-back goals for Team Staal, but were answered by the Lidtsroms, who netted three of their own. This left Team Lidstrom with a 7-6 lead heading into the third period.

Captain Eric Staal finally scored 3:49 into the third and final stanza, sending the house full of Caniacs to their feet. That was probably the loudest the arena got all night, and boy was it quite an eruption.

New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist entered the net for the third period and was forced to face Matt Duchene on the first ever penalty-shot in All-Star Game history. Duchene was awarded the shot since he was all alone on a breakaway when Alex Ovechkin decided to fling his stick to try and throw Duchene off.

When asked about that play in the locker room afterwards, by the way, Ovechkin stated "I wanted to be different."

Lundqvist made the stop on Duchene, and made plenty more after that as well. However, Team Lidstrom managed to beat King Henrik four times in the third period, and then added an empty-netter to secure the 11-10 victory.

Following the game, Lundqvist spoke about how it is to be a goaltender in an All-Star Game, which I found interesting since it must be extremely difficult...

"You [the fans] want to see a lot of scoring chances, you want to see a lot of goals," Lundqvist said. "So for a goalie playing in a game like this, you have the mindset that they're going to score on you.

"I told Carey [Price] after his period, you have to appreciate the good saves."

Hank was then asked to sum up the weekend as a whole, and he gave it very high marks...

"It was a great weekend," said Henrik. "Starting Friday with the draft, I think they organized everything really well and it was a lot of fun.

"I think the best part is meeting all the players and getting to know them a little bit better.... I love that part."

I then stepped in and asked Lundqvist how easy (or difficult) it is to switch focus back to the Rangers after this weekend, being that they host the Penguins at MSG on Tuesday...

"This has been a break for me a little bit," said Lundqvist. "Mentally you don't have to prepare or focus, you just try to have fun.

Going back to New York now, it's going to be a different ballgame. It's much more intense, so I look forward to coming back and seeing the guys at a really important time for us."

Lundqvist's locker was not the only one I spent time at, as I also made my way through the media-bombarded room to defenseman Marc Staal's locker, where he basically reiterated what Henrik said about the weekend being a lot of fun and all.

Another reporter asked Marc if there was any ribbing on his brother Eric until he finally scored in the third period...

"Yeah, I mean, I told him that he was letting everybody down," said Staal with a smile on his face. "He had some good chances, so it was only a matter of time before he put a couple in."

He was then asked about how he felt when the fans were chanting Let's Go Staal...

"I actually thought it was pretty cool," Marc said. "Obviously they [the chants] weren't for me, but I have the same last name as my brother, so it was cool just to be in that atmosphere."

I agree with both of them in that the NHL and the city of Raleigh deserve a round of applause for their efforts this weekend. The people were great, the fans were very supportive and the overall experience was a memorable one. And don't forget about Brendan Shanahan - the man behind the new format, which proved to be a success.

I will have more up on the blog tomorrow recapping the entire weekend here in North Carolina, but for now, enjoy the rest of your Sunday and get ready for crunch time for the Rangers!

EDIT: Almost forgot, big congratulations to Patrick Sharp of Team Staal for winning the All-Star MVP. Well deserved.

=============================================================

Follow me on Twitter or e-mail me at nmontemagno@rangerstribune.com