NEW YORK -- Martin Brodeur is headed back to the NHL
All-Star game. Banged-up forwards Jaromir Jagr and Jarome Iginla
are not.
Brodeur, taking aim at many career goaltending records, was one
of 30 players selected Saturday for hockey's midseason classic to
be held this month in Dallas. The backbone of New Jersey's defense
for more than a decade, Brodeur is an All-Star for the ninth time.
If he leads the Eastern Conference to victory on Jan. 24,
Brodeur would match Glenn Hall's All-Star record of four wins. He
has a 3-1 career record and is fourth among goalies in appearances,
trailing Hall (13), and Terry Sawchuk and Patrick Roy, who each
made 11.
Jagr, the New York Rangers captain, won't be making the trip
despite being tied for fifth in the league with 58 points entering
play Saturday. The nine-time All-Star has been slow to regain
strength in his left shoulder following offseason surgery, and will
instead use the week off to rehab, and rest an aching hip -- at the
request of the Rangers.
"We talked about it that it would be better for me not to go,"
Jagr said.
Iginla played in each of the last three All-Star games, but the
Calgary Flames captain isn't among the Western Conference's 15
reserves because of a knee injury. He has 23 goals and 53 points in
39 games this season.
Brodeur shows no sign of slowing down at 34. In 42 games this
season, his 14th in the NHL, Brodeur has posted a league-high 26
victories and seven shutouts. His 2.07 goals-against average ranks
second to Detroit's Dominik Hasek, who was left off the West
roster.
Ryan Miller, one of three Buffalo Sabres elected to the East
squad, will start in goal. Montreal's Cristobal Huet will make his
All-Star debut as Miller's other backup.
Joining starters Sidney Crosby of Pittsburgh, Washington's Alex
Ovechkin and Buffalo's Daniel Briere up front for the East are
first-timers Jason Blake of the New York Islanders and Eric Staal
and Justin Williams from the Stanley Cup champion Carolina
Hurricanes.
Philadelphia's Simon Gagne, Marian Hossa of the Atlanta
Thrashers, Brendan Shanahan of the New York Rangers, Vincent
Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis from the Tampa Bay Lightning and
Ottawa's Dany Heatley fill out the East's forward lines.
Heatley earned All-Star MVP honors in 2003 when he scored a
record-tying four goals in the East's 6-5 loss.
"It's a fun weekend and it's an honor to go," Heatley said.
Because of the lockout in 2005 and the NHL's participation in
the Turin Olympics last season, the league is staging its first
All-Star game in three years.
The six starters in each conference were chosen by fan
balloting, and the additions were made by the NHL's hockey
operations department after consultation with general managers.
Florida's Jay Bouwmeester will make his All-Star debut for the
East and will be joined on defense by Brian Rafalski of the Devils,
Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins and Tomas Kaberle of the Toronto
Maple Leafs. Buffalo's Brian Campbell and Sheldon Souray of
Montreal will start.
Right wing Teemu Selanne, the top scorer on the NHL-leading
Anaheim Ducks, will be making his 10th All-Star appearance -- second
among Western Conference players to starter Joe Sakic's 12. Selanne
earned the MVP award in the 1998 game when he became the first
European player to register a hat trick.
Selanne is putting together a comeback season of sorts in his
14th year in the NHL. He has posted 28 goals and 29 assists in 46
games, and had a league-leading 15 power-play goals and seven
game-winners.
Goalie Miikka Kiprusoff and defenseman Dion Phaneuf of the
Calgary Flames, defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky of the Los Angeles
Kings, and forwards Martin Havlat of the Chicago Blackhawks, Yanic
Perreault of the Phoenix Coyotes, Brian Rolston of the Minnesota
Wild, Ryan Smyth of the Edmonton Oilers and Henrik Zetterberg of
the Detroit Red Wings are set to make their All-Star debuts.
Joining Kiprusoff and starter Roberto Luongo in the West's
goaltending trio is Marty Turco of the host Dallas Stars. Turco
will making his third All-Star appearance while teammate Philippe
Boucher is a first-time choice on defense.
The remaining selections are: defenseman Kimmo Timonen of the
Nashville Predators and forwards Bill Guerin of the St. Louis
Blues, Patrick Marleau of the San Jose Sharks and Rick Nash of the
Columbus Blue Jackets.
Sakic of Colorado will start up front on a line with San Jose
forwards Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo. Anaheim's Scott
Niedermayer and Nicklas Lidstrom of Detroit were voted in on
defense.
Lindy Ruff, of the East-leading Sabres, will be behind one
bench. Anaheim's Randy Carlyle coaches the West squad.
The rosters for the YoungStars game to be played Jan. 23, as
part of skills night, also were announced Saturday.
Penguins rookie Evgeni Malkin and 19-year-old center Anze
Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings headline the 22 players selected.
Boston rookie Phil Kessel, who recently returned following surgery
to treat testicular cancer, also was chosen.