Panthers' Jagr finds humor in All-Star selection

Florida Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr continues to have a sense of humor about his selection by the fans to serve as one of four captains at the 2016 Honda NHL All-Star Game on Jan. 31 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

"I asked the fans don't vote for me; they didn't listen,'' Jagr said, smiling, on Sunday after scoring twice in the Panthers' ninth straight win, a 2-1 victory against the Minnesota Wild at BB&T Center. “I think they don't like me much. They want to see me dead."

From Dec. 1 through Jan. 1, fans around the world were able to cast their votes at NHL.com/vote and via a mobile ballot for one player from each of the four divisions, with the top vote-getter for each division earning an All-Star berth as division captain.

During the voting process, Jagr, 43, took to Twitter and jokingly asked not be voted into the game, suggesting the new 3-on-3 format would be too much for him.

"Fans - I appreciate your votes for All-Star game, but 3 on 3 would kill me and I don't want to die yet :) Thank you for understanding. Too old :)" Jagr tweeted on Dec. 2.

For the first time, the 2016 All-Star Game (4 p.m. ET; NBC, SN, TVA Sports) will be a 3-on-3, winner-take-all, division-based tournament. Each of the League's four divisions will be represented by an 11-player roster: six forwards, three defensemen and two goalies. Each game will be 20 minutes. The Atlantic Division and Metropolitan Division will play in one semifinal, and the Central Division and Pacific Division will play in the other. The winners will play in the championship game.

Jagr, who leads Florida in goals (13) and points (28), is the captain of the Atlantic Division team. Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (Metropolitan), Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks (Central) and John Scott of the Arizona Coyotes (Pacific) are the other captains.

"Probably the fans think I need to get into shape. I don't deserve the rest, I need to get into shape during the All-Star Break," Jagr told Fox Sports Florida, smiling. "Everybody else is going to have a vacation and I've got to play 3-on-3."

The remaining 40 players for the four All-Star rosters, which consists of six forwards, three defensemen and two goaltenders per team, will be determined by the NHL Hockey Operations Department and announced Wednesday.

The coach of the team with the highest points percentage (points earned divided by total possible points) in each of the four divisions through games of Saturday, Jan. 9, the halfway point of the regular season, will coach the divisional teams.