Tonight was the team selection for the NHL All-Star Game that will be played this weekend. Oh, everyone knows who the All-Stars are already, but the NHL this year adopted a unique format that I, personally, think that all of the All-Star Games should use.
↵Two players. . .in this case, Eric Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes and Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings. . .were selected as captains of their respective teams, and tonight is the night that they pick their teams, playground-style. Again, I love this idea. . .I can't express that enough. The NBA and Major League Baseball would be well served to do the same thing with their contests.
↵So the teams have "lovingly" been labeled by ESPN as "Team Staal" and "Team Lidstrom". . .is this hockey or the freaking Twilight saga? The first pick, given to Team Staal, was Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward, while Team Lidstrom's first pick was Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos. Megastar Alex Ovechkin then went to Team Staal with the third overall pick. The Sedin twins were also split up, with Daniel Sedin going to Staal with the fifth overall pick, and Lidstrom countering by taking Henrik Sedin with the sixth overall selection.
↵Meanwhile, the two players that will be representing the Minnesota Wild in Sunday's All-Star festivities, defenseman Brent Burns and right winger Martin Havlat, were taken by Team Lidstrom with consecutive picks. Burns was Lidstrom's 13th selection (and fifth defenseman), while Havlat was Lidstrom's 14th pick (and sixth forward).
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