All Star weekend

Neke promene u All-Star vikendu. Ne znam, izgleda zanimljivo..

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Fans will continue to vote via electronic ballots from a list of 100 players, but their votes will only determine the first six All-Stars. The remaining 36 players will be chosen by the NHL’s hockey operations department.

Then the fun begins.

Two captains will then be chosen, and they will draft the rest of the players to their yet-to-be-named teams. Those teams will compete in the All-Star game and skills competition.

“The goal here was to give the game back to the players, put them back in that environment that they are comfortable with and used to,” Shanahan said. “So often at the end of practice, players are picking teams or dividing teams or even going back to their youth whether it was in their driveway or in the street playing road hockey.

“That was the concept to make it fun and entertaining for the players and let that hopefully translate to all of our spectators.”

Fans will vote for team of All-Stars by selecting three forwards, two defensemen and a goalie. In addition to the 100 players on the ballot, fans will also be able to vote for write-in candidates.

There will be 42 players picked overall, with each team consisting of 12 forwards, six defensemen, and three goalies. The NHL hockey operations department will also choose 12 rookies to take part in the skills competition, rounding out the 54 players involved in All-Star weekend.

“It would be cool. It’s a little bit different look than the East-West, something new,” Crosby said. “It would probably make it a little more competitive.”

Every NHL team will still be represented by at least one player during the weekend’s festivities.

On Jan. 28, the teams will be picked in the newly established draft—with a coin flip determining which team chooses first. Once the All-Star game rosters are picked, the captains will select the rookies to fill out the skills competition rosters.

Crosby is already weighing the pros and cons of being a captain.

“It would be fun, but it would be a little bit of pressure. Guys would all want to be picked,” he said. “You’d have a pretty good pool to pick from, though.”

Teams will participate in six skills, including fastest skater, breakaway challenge, accuracy shooting, skills challenge relay, hardest shot and the elimination shootout.

While Shanahan said players themselves aren’t worried about being the last guy picked, the NHL is sensitive to such issues.

“Nobody wants to be that guy,” Crosby said with a laugh. “It’s gotta be someone, but nobody wants to be that guy.”

All the drafting logistics haven’t been worked out yet, but the league is looking into potentially having final rounds of multiple selections so no player feels the awkwardness of waiting until the end to be picked.

“They sort of laugh about it and kid around and almost revel in the potential squirming situation,” Shanahan said with a laugh.

Ali zar uvek moraju da uzmu Sidnija Krozbija..