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The 2012 NHL All-Star selections have been announced, and the Chicago Blackhawks will be represented by Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, who is out with an injury.
When the Chicago Blackhawks' two All-Stars take the ice on Sunday, they'll be in a familiar situation as teammates. Both Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane were taken by Team Chara in the NHL's second annual draft to determine the sides for the All-Star Game. The Blackhawks' duo will be joined by players like Phil Kessell and Evgeni Malkin as well as hometown rookie Colin Greening of the Ottawa Senators. Team Chara is likely to play the role of the villain in Ottawa, as their opponents, Team Alfredsson, features four Senators, including Erik Karlsson and Jason Spezza.
Hossa and Kane— the latter of which donned a Superman cape in Saturday night's Skills Competition— have some big shoes to fill, as last year's All-Star Game MVP was Chicago's Patrick Sharp, who tallied a goal and an assist in the 2011 tilt.
Game date/time: Sunday, January 29, 2012, 3 p.m. CST
Location: Scotiabank Place, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
TV: NBC
Announcers: Mike "Doc" Emrick, Ed Olcyzk, Pierre McGuire, Jeremy Roenick
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A look at the the results from the 2012 NHL All-Star Skills Competition certainly undersells the pomp and sparkle of the events. A quick look at the numbers from Event 2, the Allstate Breakaway Challenge, shows that Chicago Blackhawks RW Patrick Kane won by a considerable margin:
| TEAM CHARA | |
| Shooter | Fan vote % |
| 1. Ryan Johansen (Rookie) | 1% |
| 2. Patrick Kane | 47% |
| 3. Corey Perry | 29% |
| Goalie: Carey Price | |
| TEAM ALFREDSSON | |
| 1. Sean Couturier (Rookie) | 9% |
| 2. John Tavares | 8% |
| 3. Logan Couture | 5% |
| Goalie: Brian Elliott | |
| Winner: Patrick Kane |
|
| Score after this event | Team Chara: 3 Team Alfredsson: 4 |
What the number do not show is this:
Patrick Kane, wearing a superman cape, slapping an exploding puck an nonplussed G Brian Elliott. The event, which featured Tebowing goalies and puck juggling, gave Team Chara a point, drawing the them a 3-4 deficit.
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On Saturday, the 2012 NHL All-Star festivities continue with the Skills Competition. The Chicago Blackhawks will be represented by Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa, both of whom will compete in multiple events. Jonathan Toews had also been named to the All-Star roster, but withdrew from the event due to a hand injury. Kane will compete in the All-State NHL Breakaway Challenge, G Series NHL Skills Challenge Relay and Tim Hortons NHL Elimination Shootout. Hossa will participate in the Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater contest and Canadian Tire NHL Accuracy Shooting challenge.
A complete list of events and players for the 2012 NHL Skills Competition is available here.
Here is the remaining schedule for the 2012 NHL All-Star weekend:
The Skills Competition will be announced by Dave Strader (play-by-play) and Eddie Olczyk (analyst), who will be joined by Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick as on-ice reporting and player interviews. Liam McHugh, Mike Milbury and Keith Jones are the NBC Sports studio analysts for the event.
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On Saturday, the 2012 NHL All-Star festivities hit the ice with the skills competition. Both Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa will compete in multiple events, the team announced Friday.
#Blackhawks in the #NHLAllStar Skills Competition: Kane in breakaway, relay and shootout, Hossa in accuracy and fastest skater.
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 27, 2012
The skills competition features six events: fastest skater, breakaway challenge, accuracy shooting, skills challenge relay, hardest shot and elimination shootout. In each event, the players have opportunities to rack up points for their team, and whichever team finishes with more points is the overall winner of the skills competition.
In the fastest skater competition, five players from each team skate a series of heats to determine who is the fastest.
The breakaway challenge features three skaters and one goaltender from each team. Each skater gets three shot attempts and must earn votes by impressing judges with their best breakaway move.
In the accuracy shooting event, targets are placed in each corner of the goal, and participants must hit those targets in the fastest time possible.
More: SB Nation's NHL All-Star game stream.
The skills challenge relay features a series of relays, including the puck control relay, stick handling, one-timers, passing and shooting accuracy. Time is once again the deciding factor.
In the hardest shot competition, players simply fire off shots as hard as they can. The player who finishes with the hardest shot in terms of miles per hour wins this competition.
In the elimination shootout, each player gets one chance to score on a goaltender.
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The Chicago Blackhawks saw their second player get selected in the 2012 NHL All-Star Game draft on Thursday night when Team Chara selected forward Patrick Kane with the 23rd overall pick. He's the second Chicago player taken by captain Zdeno Chara after Marian Hossa was taken with the fourth pick.
He's the only player at his position to be playing in the game for a third consecutive year, an impressive feat considering that he's only playing in his fourth season. In 50 games for Chicago this season, the 23-year-old has 11 goals and 40 assists. He's second on the team in assists and third on the team in points.
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The 2012 NHL All-Star draft is underway, and it did not take long for a Chicago Blackhawks player to get selected.
Marian Hossa comes off the board, 4th round to countryman Chara's team! #NHLAllStar #Blackhawks
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 27, 2012
In 49 games for the Blackhawks this season, Hossa has 20 goals and 33 assists; he leads Chicago with 53 points.
Chara selected forward Pavel Datsyuk in the first round, goaltender and Boston teammate Tim Thomas in the second, and league points leader Evgeni Malkin in the third.
Related: 2012 NHL All-Star Draft: Rules, TV Schedule And More
According to draft rules, each team must have three goaltenders by round 10 and six defensemen by round 15.
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The NHL All-Star schedule kicks off on Thursday night with the NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft.
The fantasy draft -- the second of its kind -- takes place Thursday night as All-Star captains Daniel Alfredsson of the Ottawa Senators and Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins select the rosters for the 2012 NHL All-Star Game and the 2012 NHL Skills Competition.
The Chicago Blackhawks had three players to receive All-Star honors this season, RW Marian Hossa, RW Patrick Kane and C Jonathan Toews (who will miss the game with an injury). Six players each year are selected by the fans, while the addition 94 players get picked by the NHL. The captains pick teams for the both the NHL All-Star Game and the Skill Competition and can pick from either conference.
Head to NHL.com for a complete list of the players pool, and here is the TV schedule and the start times for the All-Star weekend events:
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Philadelphia Flyers forward Scott Hartnell has been tapped to replace Chicago Blackhawks forward Jonathan Toews on the Western Conference's roster for the 2012 NHL All Star Game. Toews was recently placed on the injured reserve by Chicago for a hand injury.
Toews had been one of the NHL's best players this season while leading the Blackhawks, but he appears to have injured his hand during Friday's game against the Florida Panthers. He tried to play the next day against the Nashville Predators but ended up leaving the game. He missed Chicago's most recent game against Nashville on Tuesday.
This is Toews' third All Star selection, but unfortunately he won't be participating in the game. Hartnell will be appearing in his first NHL All Star game.
Stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the Chicago Blackhawks be sure to visit Second City Hockey. Visit SB Nation NHL for more news and notes around the league.
The 2012 NHL All-Star selections have been announced, and the Chicago Blackhawks are represented by Marian Hossa, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Hossa, a top-10 scorer in the NHL this season, received the news on his 33rd birthday while Toews wished teammate Patrick Sharp had been able to share in the honor as well. Former Blackhawks defenders and members of the 2010 Stanley Cup champions Brian Campbell (Florida Panthers) and Dustin Byfuglien (Winnipeg Jets) also earned spots in the 2012 All-Star Game.
The NHL does things a bit differently than most Amercian professional sports, as the player pool will be divided into teams not on the basis of conference affiliation, but rather as a part of the 2012 NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft held on January 26th. Toews is hoping he will be selected as a team captain so he can playfully lord it over teammate Patrick Kane:
#Blackhawks' Toews on NHL All-Star Game: : "Maybe I'll be the captain and see if I can pick Kaner last for once and rub that in on him."
— Chris Kuc (@ChrisKuc) January 12, 2012
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2012 NHL All Star Game Update: Hossa And Kane Deliver In Win
Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane, who were the two representatives from the Chicago Blackhawks int the 2012 NHL All Star Game, both made key contributions in helping lead Team Chara to the 12-9 victory.
Hossa carried over his excellent form from the regular-season, as he recorded three points in the win. Hossa scored a point in each period, as he dished out an assist in each of the first two periods, and then netted a goal in the decisive third period. Hossa was aggressive throughout the game, leading Team Chara with seven shots on goal.
Patrick Kane also got into the action for Team Chara. Kane scored the final goal of the second period with just over 90 seconds remaining, which evened the score up at six and gave his team the momentum heading into the final period.
Stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the Chicago Blackhawks be sure to visit Second City Hockey. Visit SB Nation NHL for more news and notes around the league.
Jan 29 6:16p by Max Mandel