NHL All-Star Game 2015 Rosters: Full Player List, Comments and Reaction

Even though it seems like the regular season just got started, the NHL is making final preparations for the 2015 All-Star Game. The event, which takes place in Columbus, Ohio, during the weekend of January 24-25, finally put faces to the two teams that will compete. 

The NHL All-Star Game uses a combination of things that are found in the NFL and MLB for their festivities. Like football, the two teams are selected by captains who have already been chosen. Like baseball, every team must have at least one representative. 

Fortunately, the NHL players are able to get in on merit unlike in baseball. It's also a strong event that the league has done a terrific job marketing to bring in viewers. The skills competition is among the most exciting single event in sports, while the game is often an offensive showcase for the best players. 

Without further ado, here are the players who will be representing their franchises in this year's All-Star events. 

Goalies	Team
Corey Crawford	Chicago Blackhawks
Pekka Rinne	Nashville Predators
Roberto Luongo	Florida Panthers
Carey Price	Montreal Canadiens
Jimmy Howard	Detroit Red Wings
Sergei Bobrovsky	Columbus Blue Jackets
Defensemen	Team
Duncan Keith	Chicago Blackhawks
Brent Seabrook	Chicago Blackhawks
Ryan Suter	Minnesota Wild
Erik Johnson	Colorado Avalanche
Mark Giordano	Calgary Flames
Shea Weber	Nashville Predators
Drew Doughty	Los Angeles Kings
Kevin Shattenkirk	St. Louis Blues
Oliver Ekman-Larsson	Arizona Coyotes
Justin Faulk	Carolina Hurricanes
Brent Burns	San Jose Sharks
Forwards	Team
Jonathan Toews	Chicago Blackhawks
Patrick Kane	Chicago Blackhawks
Zemgus Girgensons	Buffalo Sabres
Sidney Crosby	Pittsburgh Penguins
Evgeni Malkin	Pittsburgh Penguins
Radim Vrbata	Vancouver Canucks
Dustin Byfuglien	Winnipeg Jets
Phil Kessel	Toronto Maple Leafs
Claude Giroux	Philadelphia Flyers
Jakub Voracek	Philadelphia Flyers
Anze Kopitar	Los Angeles Kings
Tyler Johnson	Tampa Bay Lightning
Steven Stamkos	Tampa Bay Lightning
Rick Nash	New York Rangers
Vladimir Tarasenko	St. Louis Blues
Alex Ovechkin	Washington Capitals
Patrice Bergeron	Boston Bruins
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	Edmonton Oilers
Bobby Ryan	Ottawa Senators
Ryan Getzlaf	Anaheim Ducks
Tyler Seguin	Dallas Stars
Patrik Elias	New Jersey Devils
John Tavares	New York Islanders
Nick Foligno	Columbus Blue Jackets
Ryan Johansen	Columbus Blue Jackets

Rosters can be found via NHL.com

The two teams will be coached by Nasvhille's Peter Laviolette and Los Angeles' Darryl Sutter. Laviolette earned the honor by leading a team with the highest percentage of total points to this point in the season, while Sutter carries the torch as the coach of the defending Stanley Cup champions. 

It's only fitting that Laviolette is joined in Columbus by his goalie, Pekka Rinne, who has been masterful in the net for Nashville. The 32-year-old leads the NHL with 27 wins, is tied for third with three shutouts and goals against average (2.00). 

Even though one save doesn't do justice to how well Rinne has performed this season, this stop with just his leg against Carolina's Nathan Gerbe shows how right things are going in Nashville right now:

Chicago was the early winner in the All-Star voting process. The Blackhawks had five players elected to the game as part of the Fan Vote, with Patrick Kane as the leading vote-getter with more than 1.23 million. 

It's no surprise that Kane would be a fan favorite, as the Chicago star has emerged as one of the league's best and most visible players for one of its most visible franchises. According to ESPN's John Buccigross, Kane is the first American-born player with at least 20 goals in his first eight years:

However, the expectation is Kane will be more low-key at this year's All-Star event than in 2014. The star forward donned a Superman cape in last year's Breakaway Challenge, but he told Chris Kue of the Chicago Tribune that he likely wouldn't participate in the event again:

"

Sometimes I have some bad dreams about that contest. Like I’ll go out there and not have any ideas what to do. Maybe I’ll let some of the younger guys take over this year and back out of that one. (Alex) Ovechkin won it a a few years ago and he hasn’t been in it since. I think once you win it, it’s one of those things you move on from.

"

On the defensemen side, Calgary's Mark Giordano is the standout in a deep group. The Flames' star has been a valuable offensive asset for a team lacking in that area. He entered play on Saturday tied for 13th with 26 assists, and his plus-minus rating of plus-16 is better than fellow All-Stars Jonathan Toews (plus-13) and Sidney Crosby (plus-10). 

According to SportsNet Canada Stats, Giordano led all defenseman in points over the 2014 calendar year with 65:

The balance of established superstars and new faces in this year's All-Star event couldn't have worked out better for the league. In order to keep building the brand, it needs to keep churning out names for fans to watch. 

Fans are only going to tune in to begin with if they are familiar with what they are seeing, which is where talented players like Kane, Crosby and Alex Ovechkin come in handy. One dominant performance by a new star can make someone else whom the league can build its future around. 

We shall see what happens when the puck drops in Columbus on January 25.