The 2015 NHL All-Star Game, which will be hosted by the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena is just around the corner.
The game kicks off Sunday, January 25th, but the All-Star roster has finally been announced. As always, there are some big names who will take the ice in Columbus, which is the first time the All-Star festivities have taken place in there.
It should come as no surprise that the Chicago Blackhawks will have a massive presence over the weekend, with 5 of the first 6 names announced being from Chicago (Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, and Corey Crawford).
The dominance of the Blackhawks early on in the All-Star roster surprises a lot of people, but if you’ve kept up with hockey at all, you know they are a force to be reckoned with (not to mention their intense fan base), so it stands to reason these five were quickly named to the roster.
Though the Blackhawks had a big showing with the first six votes, Zemgus Girgensons, the second-year center for the Buffalo Sabres, topped them all snagging 1,574,896 votes. At only 20-years-old, Girgensons has 11 goals and 20 points in 39 games and has become a fan favorite throughout the NHL.
“Fans cast more than 35 million votes this year, up 52 percent from the 2012 NHL All-Star fan campaign. Nearly 27 percent of those votes were cast by fans outside of North America, up 7,000 percent from 2012,” according to NHL.com.
On Saturday, January 10th, the NHL announced the full lineup where each of the 30 teams will have at least one representative and three from the host team in Columbus (Nick Foligno, Ryan Johansen, and Sergei Bobrovski).
The two captains for the star-studded game have not yet been picked, but that should be announced next week. For the full story on the 2015 NHL All-Star game, visit NHL.com, and be sure to check out the full list of family friendly events in Columbus around the All-Star weekend.
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