NHL announces head coaches for 2019 All-Star Game

Conor Roche

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NHL announces head coaches for 2019 All-Star Game image

The All-Star rosters are nearly complete and on Saturday the NHL announced the four head coaches for the 2019 All-Star Game that will be played in San Jose at the end of the month.

For the Eastern Conference, Tampa Bay's Jon Cooper will head the Atlantic Division and Washington's Todd Reirden will lead the Metropolitan.

In the Western Conference, Winnipeg's Paul Maurice will serve as the bench boss for the Central Division while Calgary's Bill Peters will steer the Pacific. 

The head coaches selected lead the teams with the highest point percentage for their respective division entering play Jan. 5. 

Cooper's Lightning have the league-best point percentage (.805 percent). His team's captain will be Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews. The Lightning's other two All-Star representatives are Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos. 

Reirden could have coached alongside his captain Alex Ovechkin, but the Capitals forward dropped out of the event to rest instead. John Carlson and Braden Holtby will also represent Washington. 

Maurice will be paired with Central Daivision captain and Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon and along with fellow Jets, Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler.

Peters' captain is Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid. The only Flames player named to the event is forward Johnny Gaudreau. 

The NHL announced the rosters for the All-Star Game on Wednesday. On Thursday, the league opened the ballot for "Last Men In," which allows the fans to select one more player for each team.

The 2019 NHL All-Star Game will take place Saturday, Jan. 26, at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., at 8 p.m. ET (NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS). The annual skills competition will take place the night before starting at 9 p.m. ET (NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS).

 

 

 

Conor Roche