NHL All Star Game Rosters Announced

It's where the best players in the game assemble for one weekend a year during the National Hockey League Season. Coming up at the end of the month, January 30-31 to be exact, the best players in the game converge on Bridgstone Arena in Nashville Tennessee for the 2016 NHL All Star Game. In the past, the NHL has had tried a few different looks for the game. They have had the two conferences play eachother, they have tried a North America against the World format, and even threw in a fantasy draft among the players to play in the game. This year, they are trying a new wrinkle to the Midseason Showdown.

As part of the new format for the 2016 Honda NHL All-Star Game, the All-Stars will take part in a three-game tournament, played in a 3-on-3 format, and featuring teams representing each NHL division. The Atlantic Division, captioned by Jaromir Jagr of the Florida Panthers. They will play the Metropolitan Division, captioned by Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. That's the 1st period. the 2nd period will see the Central Division, captioned by Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks, who will take on the Pacific Division, captioned by John Scott of the Arizona Coyotes. The Winners of the two periods will meet up in the 3rd period to determine a winner.

Here's what the official rosters for the All Star Game:

Atlantic Division:
Head Coach: Gerard Gallant (Florida Panthers)
F Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins)
F Jaromir Jagr (Florida Panthers)
F Leo Komarov (Toronto Maple Leafs)
F Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings)
F Ryan O'Reilly (Buffalo Sabres)
F Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning)
D Aaron Ekblad (Florida Panthers)
D Erik Karlsson (Ottawa Senators)
D P.K. Subban (Montreal Canadians)
G Ben Bishop (Tampa Bay Lightning)
G Roberto Luongo (Florida Panthers)

Metropolitan Division:
Head Coach: Barry Trotz (Washington Capitals)
F Nicklas Backstrom (Washington Capitals)
F Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers)
F Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins)
F Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals)
F Brandon Saad (Columbus Blue Jackets)
F John Tavares (New York Islanders)
D Justin Faulk (Carolina Hurricans)
D Kris Letang (Pittsburgh Penguins)
D Ryan McDonagh (New York Rangers)
G Braden Holtby (Washington Capitals)
G Cory Schneider (New Jersey Devils)

Central Division:
Head Coach: Lindy Ruff (Dallas Stars)
F Jamie Benn (Dallas Stars)
F Matt Duchene (Colorado Avalanch)
F Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks)
F Tyler Seguin (Dallas Stars)
F Vladimir Tarasenko (St. Louis Blues)
F Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks)
D Dustin Byfuglien (Winnipeg Jets)
D Roman Josi (Nashville Predators)
D Shea Weber (Nashville Predators)
G Devan Dubnyk (Minnesota Wild)
G Pekka Rinne (Nashville Predators)

Pacific Division:
Head Coach: Darryl Sutter (Los Angeles Kings)
F Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary Flames)
F Taylor Hall (Edmonton Oilers)
F Joe Pavelski (San Jose Sharks)
F Corey Perry (Anaheim Ducks)
F John Scott (Arizona Coyotes)
F Daniel Sedin (Vancouver Canucks)
D Brent Burns (San Jose Sharks)
D Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings)
D Mark Giordano (Calgary Flames)
G John Gibson (Anaheim Ducks)
G Jonathan Quick (Los Angeles Kings)

Mostly I think the coaches got the rosters right for this tournament. Of course, much like anything else in life, I think there's a few guys who got short changed. Was a little surprised that John Klingberg of the Stars was left off the list. The stat's that Klingberg have put up this year warrant him playing in the midseason showdown. He is the 2nd highest scoring defenseman in the NHL, behind only Erik Karlsson of Ottawa. I'm impressed that Dylan Larkin got the nod to represent the Red Wings over guys like Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. Then again, the only guy who has more points this year in Detroit than Larkin is Zetterberg.

Just as surprising is the fact that John Scott was even voted a captain for the All Star Game. Keep in mind, this is a guy who has spent some time in the minor leagues this year. How he is going to the game instead of say Shane Doan (his Arizona teammate), Mikkel Boedker (the Coyotes leading scorer), and even Henrik Sedin is a bit of a shock. With the East, the fact that Zdeno Chara isn't playing, we also got no Victor Hedman or Dion Phaneuf is a bit of a surprise. That's not to say that the guys playing aren't deserving, because trust me they are. All I'm saying is it would have added a few more intersting notes to the dynamic of the game.

The 2016 Honda NHL All-Star celebration will mark the first time Nashville has hosted the NHL All-Star festivities, which will take place at Bridgestone Arena. Live television coverage of the League's midseason showcase during the 2016 Honda NHL All-Star Skills Competition and 2016 Honda NHL All-Star Game will be broadcast by NBCSN in the U.S. and Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada. The 2016 Honda NHL All-Star Skills Competition will begin at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT on Saturday, Jan. 30, and the 2016 Honda NHL All-Star Game will start at 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT on Sunday, Jan. 31.