In two weeks, the NHLwill gather in Raleigh, North Carolina for this year's All-Star Game. Hosting them will be the Carolina Hurricanes and their captain, Eric Staal. In a nod to the hometown hero, the group of All-Star players has voted to name him one of the captains of the 2010 game. Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom gets the other nod.
NHL All-Star Game: Players Name Eric Staal, Nicklas Lidstrom All-Star Captains
Now, officially, Team Staal will take on Team Lidstrom on Sunday, January 30th at RBC Center. First, though, the teams need to be selected, and that’ll happen on the Friday night prior to the game in a Draft that will be broadcast on VERSUS and TSN at 7 p.m. Eastern. Staal and Lidstrom will each pick two alternate captains, and the remaining players will be selected in a playground-style format.
NHL.com has a little bit more information:
The NHL All-Star teams are now designated as Team Staal and Team Lidstrom. Team Staal will wear the previously unveiled white Reebok NHL All-Star jerseys, helmets and socks, with red trim throughout and red gloves and pants. Team Lidstrom will wear the dark blue jerseys with royal blue trim, navy blue helmets, gloves and pants and navy blue socks. The All-Star jerseys feature Reebok’s trademark Smoothfit numbering and lettering, created from a special process that provides lighter, stretch-based performance and the ability to include a unique design on the back numbers.
Eric Staal wearing the hometown red. There’s no doubt it’ll be a partisan crowd on hand for the game now, right? Most importantly for the NHL: they can now sell those red All-Star Staal No. 12 jerseys with the ‘C’ on them.
The coaches will be assigned to each team prior to the Friday night Draft. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville and his assistant Mike Haviland will coach one team as a reward for winning the Stanley Cup last June, while Alain Vigneault of the Vancouver Canucks and Peter Laviolette of the Philadelphia Flyers will coach the other team as a reward for holding the best record in the West and the East, respectively, through 41 games.
SB Nation will be on the ground in Raleigh for the entirety of All-Star Weekend, so be sure you stay with us for more on the event.
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