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All-Star captains eager to get down to business

Wednesday, 01.14.2015 / 6:29 PM / 2015 NHL All-Star Weekend

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All-Star captains eager to get down to business
Team captain Jonathan Toews and alternates Patrick Kane, Ryan Getzlaf and Drew Doughty react to the news Wednesday ahead of the 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Game.

When Patrick Kane joined Jonathan Toews in coach Joel Quenneville's office before practice Wednesday, he was worried something had gone awry during the Chicago Blackhawks' brief break since last playing Sunday against the Minnesota Wild.

"I thought we were in trouble," Kane said.

Quite the opposite, actually. Quenneville called the meeting to tell Toews he would be named a captain for the 2015 NHL All-Star Weekend and Kane that he would be named an alternate to captain Nick Foligno of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Toews will be joined by Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks and Rick Nash of the New York Rangers. Foligno and Kane will be joined by Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings.

The two trios will select teams at the 2015 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft presented by DraftKings on Friday, Jan. 23. Those rosters will participate in the 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Skills Competition the following day and the 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Game on Sunday, Jan. 25.

2015 NHL ALL-STAR GAME

Foligno, Toews to captain All-Star teams

NHL.com
Nick Foligno, Jonathan Toews named captains for 2015 NHL All-Star Weekend, with Drew Doughty, Patrick Kane, Ryan Getzlaf and Rick Nash serving as assistants. READ MORE ›

"It's going to be great," Getzlaf said. "I'm pretty excited about the whole opportunity. I think it's going to be fun to go there and be a part of that. I haven't been the last few years."

Foligno will have the added pressure of representing the city where he plays.

"I was looking at the lineup," he said. "I don't think I can go wrong with anyone I'm drafting. ... I just hope I pick a good team to try and win this thing."

It didn't take long once the captains were named for the lobbying to begin.

"[Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook] said, 'Just make sure I don't get picked last,' and I'm like, 'I don't know, because there's only so much I can do about that,'" Toews said. "We'll see how it goes.

"It's pretty cool. It's not something I expected. It's definitely an honor, so it's going to be fun sitting across from [Kane]. I'm sure the competition is starting already to see what's going to happen."

Kane and Toews have been teammates for eight seasons and have won the Stanley Cup twice together. They've squared off in international competitions, so being on the other bench won't be a completely new concept.

Now they will get to match general manager wits. Toews was asked if he expects there to be a lot of chatter from Kane.

"Yeah, for sure," Toews said. "It'll go both ways. It'll be fun. I think a lot of people made a big deal out of him passing over me in the draft a couple times last time we did it, so there'll definitely be some back and forth."

Toews said he played fantasy hockey a couple times when he was younger. Doughty said the last time he had to choose sides for a hockey game was probably a game of pond hockey when he was 14 or 15 years old.

It didn't seem like Doughty thought a lot of strategy would be needed to choose from among the best players in the NHL for an event like this.

"I think I'm just going to draft guys that I think will be fun to be with off the ice," Doughty said. "I'm not trying to put the best hockey team together. I'm trying to put the best team to have fun with in the dressing room around together. I know a lot of guys that will be there, so I'm sure I'll draft them. But I'd like to meet some new guys too. It would be nice to meet some new faces.

"Obviously I'll get to [Kings teammate Anze Kopitar] at some point, so we'll see how that goes."

NHL.com correspondent Craig Merz contributed to this report.

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