Team Chara/Team Bruins Beat Team Alfredsson 12-9 In 2012 NHL All-Star Game

The 2012 All-Star Game in Ottawa was dominated by the Boston Bruins aka Team Chara. Critics of the B's like to point out that they can only play a physical, on the edge sort of style but I wonder what those same clowns were saying today?

Team Chara beat Team Alfredsson 12-9 at Scottiabank Place thanks to Zdeno Chara's game-winning goal plus Tim Thomas' (18 saves) outstanding third period. To top it off, Tyler Seguin had a nifty assist on Joffrey Lupul's goal that made it 12-9.

So in other words, when the game was in the balance (6-6 after 2 periods), the Bruins players stepped up when it counted the most. Sounds familiar, right?

At least the NHL understands what All-Star weekend is all about: selling the product. It's laughable that MLB determines home-field in the World Series by who wins a glorified scrimmage in the middle of the summer. With that in mind, the NHL did everything in its power (Twitter, microphones, cameras everywhere) these last few days to promote this great sport.

Chara was +7 with three shots, Thomas won his record fourth straight All-Star game and Seguin had three shots in what should be his first of many All-Star game appearances.

Despite the lack of hits (ie. none), penalties (zero) or defensive intensity, the B's players didn't seem to skip a beat. Thankfully though after this fun weekend, the Bruins get back to the real stuff starting on Tuesday at TD Garden against the Senators.

There are only 35 games left in the regular season and Boston enters the second half firmly in second place in the Eastern Conference and first in the Northeast Division. They begin with three games in Boston (Ottawa, Carolina, Pittsburgh).

Chara, Thomas and Seguin probably didn't get much time to relax but hopefully the rest of the B's have enjoyed their break and will return energized and ready to make another deep playoff run this spring.

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You Better Have A Will When You Step In Front Of A Slap Shot By Zdeno Chara

The 2012 NHL All-Star skill competition was tonight in Ottawa and Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara did not disappoint. Team Alfredsson actually beat Team Chara 21-12 but that doesn't matter one bit.

For the fifth consecutive season, Big Z won the hardest shot contest and even better, he absolutely destroyed his record (105.9 mph) from last season with a missile that was clocked at 108.8 mph.

Nashville's Shea Weber came in second place with a top shot of 106.0 mph. Apparently Chara had a new stick by Warrior so I guess that explains how he increased his slapper by almost three mph. It just goes to show you how insane you have to be to step in front of his shot, either to block it or deflect it.

The other Boston participants were Tyler Seguin and Tim Thomas. Seguin was the second-worst in accuracy shooting (30.092 seconds to hit all four targets on the net) and he was stopped by Blues goaltender Brian Elliott in the elimination shootout.

I didn't see the event live and reading the story, there's no mention of Thomas' performance but there was a highlight or two of him making some saves so I guess he did alright. Haha nobody goes to the skills competition or the All-Star game for that matter to watch the goaltenders pitch shutouts.

The All-Star game is tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. EST. Seguin tweeted that he will be on a line with Toronto's Joffrey Lupul and Phil Kessel. Chara will get plenty of ice time but nobody is pushed too hard in an All-Star game; Thomas will most likely play for a period.

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Zdeno Chara Makes It Easy For Bruins Fans Watching The All-Star Festivities

The 2012 NHL All-Star draft took place tonight in Ottawa with captains Daniel Alfredsson and Zdeno Chara sticking tight to their teammates and other obvious connections.

Chara had the first pick overall (after a coin flip) in the second annual draft (which really spices up the weekend) and he took Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk while Alfredsson selected teammate (and fellow Swede) Erik Karlsson.

With his next pick, Chara took teammate Tim Thomas. Alfredsson stuck to his Senator and Swede theme as he also chose Henrik Lundqvist (assistant captain), Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek, the Sedin sisters plus Claude Giroux (who grew up in the area) and former Ottawa goaltender Brian Elliott.

Chara made Tyler Seguin sweat for a while but he eventually took him along with former Bruin Phil Kessel. Haha Seguin and Kessel on the same team.

Sharks forward Logan Couture was Mr. Irrelevant but the good-natured youngster seemed to take it in stride. There was no pouting like Kessel last season. After all, he got a new car and a donation to the charity of his choosing so who cares? They are all big boys that should be able to handle it.

Joffrey Lupul (assistant captain) and Jamie Benn are also on Team Chara along with Marian Hossa, Evgeni Malkin, Kimmo Timonen, Corey Perry, Carey Price, Ryan Suter, Jimmy Howard, Brian Campbell, Patrick Kane, Dion Phaneuf, Jarome Iginla, Dennis Wideman, Marian Gaborik and Jordan Eberle.

Team Alfredsson is rounded out by Jonathan Quick, Kris Letang, Steven Stamkos, Shea Weber, Dan Giardi, Keith Yandle, James Neal, Alexander Edler, John Tavares, Scott Hartnell and Jason Pominville.

Chara's rookies are Luke Adam, Raphael Diaz, Colin Greening, Cody Hodgson, Ryan Johansen and Gabriel Landeskog.

Alfredsson's rookies are Sean Courtier, Justin Faulk, Carl Hagelin, Nick Johnson, Matt Read and Craig Smith.

The skills competition takes place on Saturday night, that's the only event that the rookies will participate in.

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Zdeno Chara, Daniel Alfredsson Named 2012 NHL All-Star Game Captains

Bruins captain and defenseman Zdeno Chara and Senators captain and winger Daniel Alfredsson were both named 2012 NHL All-Star captains for their respective teams today.

The NHL All-Star game is January 29th and thanks to the NHL's brilliant new All-Star rules, each player will take turns selecting players for their respective teams on January 26th at the NHL All-Star player fantasy draft. The skills competition is on Saturday and the game is on Sunday.

Chara, a former Senator, played with Alfredsson for four seasons between 2001-02 and 2005-06. Each player is a key member of their respective teams, as Chara is eying another Stanley Cup run while Alfredsson is third in scoring on the surprising Senators, who are fifth in the Eastern Conference and only one point behind the Bruins.

Each player has a few teammates to choose from. Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas and winger Tyler Seguin were both named All-Stars while the hometown Senators have defenseman Erik Karlsson, center Jason Spezza, winger Milan Michalek and rookie winger Colin Greening thanks to the usual ballot stuffing by Canadian fans that have nothing better to do.

I have to think that Chara will take Thomas first but it would be funny if either captain threw a curve ball and selected one of the other captain's teammates.

Chara was excited when upon hearing the news, as he talked about it with CSNNE.COM

"It's another honor on top of being selected as an All-Star. I found out this morning so I'm a little bit surprised. I'm going to at least try to see how it is to be in the position that some GMs are in or people that are making those decisions. In the group of players that are being selected I don't think you can make a wrong choice."

Last year's memorable moment was obviously Phil Kessel being picked last (complete with Alex Ovechkin taking pictures of him) and it was overall a successful (and my favorite) All-Star Weekend. Let's hope this year's draft provides some more fireworks.

UPDATE 1/20: Claude Julien and his assistants (Doug Houda, Doug Jarvis and Geoff Ward) will coach Chara's team in the All-Star game.

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Tyler Seguin & Zdeno Chara Named To The 2012 NHL All-Star Roster In Ottawa

A week after Tim Thomas was named as the fan selection for starting goaltender, the NHL announced today that Bruins captain Zdeno Chara and Tyler Seguin will join the Bruins netminder in Ottawa for the 2012 NHL All-Star Game on January 29th.

Bruins head coach Claude Julien and his assistants were also named to the All-Star Game last week as well so this year's festivities will have a distinct Black & Gold taste.

Seguin was inexplicably missing from this year's ballot despite starting the season on a scoring tear including posting his first career hat trick against the Maple Leafs on November 5th. Who can forget his amazing goal in that same game? And if you forgot about it, here it is.



Seguin has really turned a corner this season, as his 17 goals in just 38 games so far absolutely dwarfs his 11 goals in 74 games last season and leads the team. The speedy winger leads the league in Plus/Minus with a plus 33 and is third in the NHL in game-winning goals with five. Seguin was a write-in candidate in this year's All-Star balloting and his strong performance coupled with his all-world play has catapulted him into the forefront of All-Star discussion.

Chara is obviously one of, if not the best defenseman in the NHL and he is a perennial All-Star. Even if Chara played like garbage this year, he would still be invited off the strength of his record breaking slap shot in the hardest shot contest last season.

Chara has had a fantastic year once again as his +27 is good for second in the NHL (behind Seguin). His plus/minus is doubly impressive because Chara is always paired up against the opposition's top players such as Phil Kessel, Alex Ovechkin, the Sedins and Steven Stamkos.

I can't really make the argument for many other Bruins, as their team oriented style of play doesn't lend itself to individual accolades but one player that I thought would make the team is Patrice Bergeron. Selke Smooth is having his best season and has really shown his value to this team since Boston's second forward line has been its best thus far. He has never made an All-Star Game which boggles my mind, so for him to miss out on this year's contest is a little shocking but I'm sure he wouldn't complain about having a few extra days off.

The All-Star rosters will follow the same format as last year with both teams being decided by a draft on Friday night. Haha who can forget Kessel being Mr. Irrelevant last season? One of the all-time classic awkward moments in a sports broadcast-"Hey Phil!".

UPDATE 1/12: Jordan Caron was called up from Providence since Brad Marchand is still serving his five-game suspension. Caron is playing on a line with Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley, meaning that Zach Hamill is a healthy scratch.

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Claude Julien Named 2012 All-Star Coach

Yesterday it was revealed that Bruins goalie Tim Thomas will be starting goaltender for the 2012 NHL All-Star Game in Ottawa. Today, head coach Claude Julien will join him as on the All-Star roster along with his assistants Doug Houda and Geoff Ward. Julien hails from Ottawa and will surely cherish the opportunity.

"The fact that you get an opportunity to coach the elite players of the league and the guys that get voted on, you see a different side of players," said Julien. "So the whole experience is a good one. The fact that it's in my hometown is great. It's an added bonus, and you've got your family and friends around. So, it'll be a lot of fun."

Julien has led the Bruins to an impressive season after a 3-7 start, putting them near the top of the Eastern Conference. Julien's squad has dominated every facet of the game as of late, as their 23 wins in their last 27 contests has proven. Offensively, the Bruins are approaching historic levels.

In games decided by 3 or more goals, the B's are 15-1. Scoring more than 3 goals a game hasn't been a problem for the B's, recording a league leading 138 goals so far this season. The Bruins have also scored twice within a minute 13 times this year, which leads the league.

Defensively, the Bruins are as stingy as ever thanks to the efforts of Tuukka Rask and Tim Thomas. Rask and Thomas are number one and two in the NHL in goals against average and save percentage. Suffocating defense has always been a hallmark of a Claude Julien coached team and this year is no different since they've allowed an NHL-low 69 goals so far.

It is amazing how far Julien and this team have come in the last few years. Going into the playoffs last season, most Bruins fans were calling for his head and now he is beloved throughout New England. Nothing like winning a championship, I guess.

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Tim Thomas Wins Spot As Goalie on 2012 All-Star Fan Ballot In Ottawa

Tim Thomas has had a magical ride over the last year and he has accumulated many honors and accolades, all of which could fill up a trophy case.

With the 2012 NHL All-Star Game in Ottawa approaching later this month (January 29), the league has released the winners of their fan voting contest. You guessed it, Thomas has been named as one of the six fan ballot winners. The remaining players on the teams will be selected by the NHL Hockey Operations Staff.

Thomas is 17-6 this season in 24 starts, while putting up a 1.90 goals against average as well as a .940 save percentage.

He has had one of the best seasons by a goaltender in NHL history last season and this honor shows that the fans across the world are appreciative of his effort. Thomas is also the only player from an American club to grab a starting spot in the fan ballots.

Joining Thomas will be Dion Phaneuf from the Maple Leafs as well as leading vote getter Erik Karlsson, Jason Spezza, Milan Michalek and Daniel Alfredsson, all from the host and ballot-stuffing Ottawa Senators.

Thomas led all goaltenders in votes with an amazing 626,540 total fan votes, over 128,000 more votes than the second-place finisher, James Reimer of the Maple Leafs.

Other Bruins skaters were not well represented on the fan ballot: Patrice Bergeron, (138,580), Tyler Seguin-who was inexplicably a write-in (121,135), Milan Lucic, (118,015) and Zdeno Chara, who was fifth in fan voting for defensemen with 463,650 votes.

UPDATE 1/6: Claude Julien along with his assistants Doug Houda and Geoff Ward will coach one of the All-Star teams.



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