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| NHL.com |
The time is drawing near for the upcoming 2011 NHL All-Star Game Weekend hosted by the Carolina Hurricanes that will take place in Raleigh, NC from Jan. 28-30.
Player and coaching selections getting finalized
With the recent announcement of the top six players competing at this year's event, as selected by the fans, the remaining 36 players will be announced by the NHL on Tues. Jan. 11. The NHL announced on Saturday that the competing coaching staffs for both teams will include the Chicago Blackhawks staff led by Joel Quennville who earned the selection as a representative of the defending Stanley Cup Champions while Philadelphia Flyers coach Peter Laviolette and Vancouver Canucks coach Alain Vigneault will manage the opposing team's bench. Laviolette and Vigneault earned their invitations as both of their teams possessed the highest points percentage in each conference as of Saturday. The selection of Laviolette to help lead the opposing bench will once again pit him against Quennville on the opposite end, as the two bench bosses led their teams against one another in the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup finals back in June.
Caniacs to welcome Laviolette home
Though he now coaches the Flyers, Peter Laviolette called Raleigh home since December 2003 and led the Carolina Hurricanes to win the Stanley Cup in 2006. Unfortunately, after a bad start early in the 2008-2009 season, Laviolette was let go in December of that year, but was not out of coaching long when Philadelphia called him to lead a troubled and struggling team a year later in December 2009. Laviolette meshed his system in with the Flyers talented roster and proceeded to lead the Flyers to last year's Stanley Cup final against the Blackhawks. Unfortunately for him and the Flyers, a 'Cinderella-ending' did not occur as the Blackhawks broke their 49-year drought and won the Stanley Cup.
Laviolette's selection on Saturday stands as a testament to his coaching and leadership as the Flyers have put together a solid first-half performance in 2010-2011 to stay in strong contention to make another Stanely Cup run.
Official NHL sites to follow:
NHL All-Star Game page - official site (nhl.com)
Carolina Hurricanes All-Star Weekend page - (carolinahurricanes.com)
NHL Wide Open page - learn about what Raleigh has to offer
Local sites and links to follow:
The Raleigh Sports Examiner on Facebook - get the latest updates on-site
Follow the Raleigh Sports Examiner on Twitter @pksport - get the latest updates on-site
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