<
>

Patrick Kane, Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin lead Central All Stars

Hometown stars Roman Josi and Shea Weber were chosen by the NHL to represent a loaded Central division for the new All-Star tournament in Nashville, Tennessee, on Jan. 31.

The league selected 40 players to join four captains -- Patrick Kane (Central), Jaromir Jagr (Atlantic), Alex Ovechkin (Metropolitan), John Scott (Pacific) -- voted in by the fans.

Each division will have six forwards, three defensemen and two goaltenders and will compete in a 3-on-3 format tournament.

The Central boasts the top three scorers in the league in Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks and Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars.

The division-leading Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers and host Predators each have three players. Defensemen Josi and Weber are joined by Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne.

Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and league-leading goaltender Braden Holtby will represent the Capitals on the Metropolitan team.

The Panthers, winners of 10 in a row, will have Atlantic Division captain Jagr, defenseman Aaron Ekblad and goaltender Roberto Luongo there.

Washington coach Barry Trotz and Florida coach Gerard Gallant will also be behind the bench. Trotz returns to Nashville, where he coached the Predators for their first 15 seasons.

Lindy Ruff of the Stars will coach the Central Division, and Darryl Sutter of the Los Angeles Kings the Pacific Division team.

Among those not selected were Penguins star Sidney Crosby, Blackhawks Stanley Cup-winning goalie Corey Crawford, Stars top defenseman John Klingberg, Jets leading scorer Blake Wheeler and New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

All 30 teams have at least one representative.

The complete rosters:

Atlantic Division

F Patrice Bergeron (BOS) F Jaromir Jagr (FLA)* F Leo Komarov (TOR) F Dylan Larkin (DET) F Ryan O'Reilly (BUF) F Steven Stamkos (TBL) D Aaron Ekblad (FLA) D Erik Karlsson (OTT) D P.K. Subban (MTL) G Ben Bishop (TBL) G Roberto Luongo (FLA)

Central Division

F Jamie Benn (DAL) F Matt Duchene (COL) F Patrick Kane (CHI)* F Tyler Seguin (DAL) F Vladimir Tarasenko (STL) F Jonathan Toews (CHI) D Dustin Byfuglien (WPG) D Roman Josi (NSH) D Shea Weber (NSH) G Devan Dubnyk (MIN) G Pekka Rinne (NSH)

Metropolitan Division

F Nicklas Backstrom (WSH) F Claude Giroux (PHI) F Evgeni Malkin (PIT) F Alex Ovechkin (WSH)* F Brandon Saad (CBJ) F John Tavares (NYI) D Justin Faulk (CAR) D Kris Letang (PIT) D Ryan McDonagh (NYR) G Braden Holtby (WSH) G Cory Schneider (NJD)

Pacific Division

F Johnny Gaudreau (CGY) F Taylor Hall (EDM) F Joe Pavelski (SJS) F Corey Perry (ANA) F John Scott (ARI)* F Daniel Sedin (VAN) D Brent Burns (SJS) D Drew Doughty (LAK) D Mark Giordano (CGY) G John Gibson (ANA) G Jonathan Quick (LAK)

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.