Martin Brodeur is headed back to the NHL All-Star game. Banged-up forwards Jaromir Jagr and Jarome Iginla are not.
Brodeur, taking aim at many career goaltending records, was one of 30 players selected on Saturday for the midseason exhibition game to be held this month in Dallas. The backbone of New Jersey's defense for more than a decade, Brodeur is an NHL All-Star for the ninth time.
If he leads the Eastern Conference to victory on Jan. 24, Brodeur would match Glenn Hall's All-Star record of four wins.
PHOTO: AP
Jagr, the New York Rangers captain, won't be making the trip because he has been slow to regain strength in his left shoulder following offseason surgery.
Iginla isn't among the Western Conference's 15 reserves because of a knee injury. He has 23 goals and 53 points in 39 games.
Ryan Miller, one of three Buffalo Sabres elected to the East squad, will start in goal. Montreal's Cristobal Huet will make his All-Star debut as Miller's other backup.
Joining starters Sidney Crosby of Pittsburgh, Washington's Alex Ovechkin and Buffalo's Daniel Briere up front for the East are first-timers Jason Blake of the New York Islanders and Eric Staal and Justin Williams from the champion Carolina Hurricanes.
Philadelphia's Simon Gagne, Marian Hossa of the Atlanta Thrashers, Brendan Shanahan of the New York Rangers, Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis from the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa's Dany Heatley fill out the East's forward lines.
Florida's Jay Bouwmeester will make his All-Star debut for the East and will be joined on defense by Brian Rafalski of the Devils, Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins and Tomas Kaberle of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Buffalo's Brian Campbell and Sheldon Souray of Montreal will start.
Right wing Teemu Selanne, the top scorer on the NHL-leading Anaheim Ducks, will be making his 10th All-Star appearance -- second among Western Conference players to starter Joe Sakic's 12.
Goalie Miikka Kiprusoff and defenseman Dion Phaneuf of the Calgary Flames, defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky of the Los Angeles Kings and forwards Martin Havlat of the Chicago Blackhawks, Yanic Perreault of the Phoenix Coyotes, Brian Rolston of the Minnesota Wild, Ryan Smyth of the Edmonton Oilers and Henrik Zetterberg of the Detroit Red Wings are set to make their All-Star debuts.
Joining Kiprusoff and starter Roberto Luongo in the West's goaltending trio is Marty Turco of the host Dallas Stars. Turco will making his third All-Star appearance while teammate Philippe Boucher is a first-time choice on defense.
The remaining selections are defenseman Kimmo Timonen of the Nashville Predators and forwards Bill Guerin of the St. Louis Blues, Patrick Marleau of the San Jose Sharks and Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
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