NHL announces rosters for 2016 All-Star Game

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The National Hockey League announced the rosters for the 2016 NHL All Star Game in Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday.

The local teams will be represented in Nashville by goaltender Cory Schneider of the New Jersey Devils, forward Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers, defenseman Ryan McDonagh of the New York Rangers and forward John Tavares of the New York Islanders.

Salem, New Jersey native and Calgary Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau was also selected to participate in the 2016 NHL All Star game. Schneider, Giroux, McDonagh and Tavares will represent the Metropolitan Division in the game, while Gaudreau will skate for the Pacific Division.

The NHL changed the format for the all-star game this season, to include a three-on-three mini tournament. The Pacific Division will face off against the Central Division and the Metropolitan Division will go up against the Atlantic Division in a 20-minute game taking place within the first two periods of the festivities on Sunday January 31.

The third period will have the two winning divisions battle each other to determine the winner. The winning division of the skills competition on Saturday January 30, will get to choose whether they wish to face off in the first period or the second period of the festivities on Sunday.

Each division will be represented by six forwards, three defensemen and two goalies. The four captains were selected by a result of a fan vote, which was announced over the weekend. Jaromir Jagr of the Florida Panthers, John Scott of the Arizona Coyotes, Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Rounding out the rest of the rosters are;

Atlantic Division: Forwards; Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins, Leo Komarov, Toronto Maple Leafs, Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings, Ryan O’Reilly, Buffalo Sabres, Steven Stamkos Tampa Bay Lightning. Defensemen; Aaron Ekblad, Panthers, Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators and P.K. Subban, Montreal Canadiens. Goaltenders; Ben Bishop, Lightning and Roberto Luongo, Panthers.

Metropolitan Division: Forwards; Nicklas Backstrom, Capitals, Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Brandon Saad, Columbus Blue Jackets. Defensemen; Justin Faulk, Carolina Hurricanes and Kris Letang, Penguins. Goaltenders; Braden Holtby, Capitals.

Central Division: Forwards; Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars, Matt Duchene, Colorado Avalanche, Vladimir Tarasenko of the St. Louis Blues and Jonathan Toews, Blackhawks. Defensemen; Roman Josi and Shea Weber, Nashville Predators and Dustin Byfuglien, Winnipeg Jets. Goaltenders; Devan Dubnyk, Minnesota Wild and Pekka Rinne, Predators.

Pacific Division: Forwards; Taylor Hall, Edmonton Oilers, Joe Pavelski, San Jose Sharks and Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks. Defensemen; Brent Burns, Sharks, Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings and Mark Giordano, Flames. Goaltenders; John Gibson, Ducks and Jonathan Quick, Kings.

The coaches for the four teams will be represented by the head coaches of the teams in first place of their respected divisions. Gerard Gallant of the Panthers will lead the Atlantic, Barry Trotz of the Capitals for the Metropolitan, Lindy Ruff of the Stars behind the bench for the Central and Darryl Sutter of the Kings for the Pacific.

The 2016 Honda NHL All Star Game marks the first time that the “Music City” has hosted the event. All of the festivities from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville can be seen on NBC Sports Network in the United States and Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada. On Saturday January 30, at 7:00 PM ET, the 2016 Honda NHL All Star Skills Competition will be held with the all-star game taking place on Sunday January 31 at 5:00 PM ET.