» 3 SHARKS HEADED TO ALL-STAR GAME
Sharks defensemen Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson and forward Joe Pavelski were all selected to play in the NHL AllStar Game in San Jose as rosters for the Jan. 26 showcase at SAP Center were announced Wednesday.
Burns, who, entering Wednesday, led all Pacific Division defensemen with 40 points, was selected to the game for the sixth time, including the last five. Karlsson, who has 32 points, is also slated to make his sixth appearance. Pavelski, whose 23 goals through Tuesday lead all Pacific Division players, is making his third appearance.
“Excited. Been to a couple now. It’ll be fun,” Pavelski said Wednesday night after the Sharks’ 5-4 in over Colorado. “It’ll be a little different with it in our hometown here. Excited to be a part of it with it here in the Bay Area.”
“They’re always special to play in,” Burns said. “Being at home, In front of our own fans, represent team and city, it makes it extra special.”
The Sharks may even have a fourth player in the game.
As was the case in previous years, 11 players -- six forwards, three defensemen and two goalies -- will be selected to play for each of the NHL’s four divisions in a 3on-3 tournament format. One remaining spot in each division will be filled through the NHL All-Star “Last Men In” vote.
Sharks center Logan Couture is among eight players eligible to be voted onto the Pacific Division team. Voting begins Thursday and ends Jan. 10 at 8:59 p.m. (PT).Couture, who has 39 points so far this season, has made one appearance in the All-Star Game, in 2012.
Right now, the Sharks are the only NHL team with three all-star selections.
Skaters joining Burns, Karlsson and Pavelski on the Pacific Division team are Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, Arizona’s Clayton Keller, Calgary’s Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau, Los Angeles’ Drew Doughty and Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson. The two Pacific Division goalies are Vegas’ Marc-Andre Fleury and Anaheim’s John Gibson.
McDavid was one of four players selected as division captains on Dec. 27, along with Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (Metropolitan Division), Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs (Atlantic Division), Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche.
Ovechkin, though, announced Wednesday he is skipping the event, citing the need to rest and recover for the second half of the regular season. No captain for the Metropolitan Division has yet been named as a replacement.
It’s the fourth time in franchise history at least three Sharks players have been named all-stars. The last was in 2017, when Burns, Pavelski and Martin Jones were all recognized.
The last time the All-Star Game was in San Jose, in 1997, two Sharks players -Owen Nolan and Tony Granato -- were selected to the Western Conference team. Nolan had a hat trick in the game, including his famous ‘called shot’ when he beat Eastern Conference goalie Dominik Hasek on a breakaway.
The NHL All-Star Skills competition takes place Jan. 25 at 6 p.m. (PT) on NBCSN and the All-Star Game starts at 5 p.m. on NBC the following day.