Avalanche-Red Wings alumni game full of star power

Six members of the Hockey Hall of Fame are among those on the preliminary rosters released Friday for the 2016 Stadium Series Alumni Game at Coors Field on Feb. 26, played the day before the 2016 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series game between the Colorado Avalanche and the Detroit Red Wings.

For the Avalanche, their roster will feature four Hall of Fame members: goalie Patrick Roy, their current coach, defenseman Ray Bourque and forwards Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic, their current executive vice president and general manager. Detroit counters with defensemen Nicklas Lidstrom and Larry Murphy.

Bourque may have a skate up on the competition, as he played -- and scored the deciding goal -- for the Boston Bruins in the alumni game at the 2016 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium on Dec. 31.

The star power does not end there for either team, as central players in the fierce rivalry between the two franchises will make appearances as well.

Forward Claude Lemieux and defensemen Rob Blake and Adam Foote are among the other Colorado players named. Forwards Kris Draper, Tomas Holmstrom, Martin Lapointe and Kirk Maltby have been named to the Detroit roster.

Additions to the rosters will be announced in the coming weeks. The alumni game will consist of three 20-minute periods (running time) and two 12-minute intermissions.

Roy has already begun preparations for the game. Twice in the past two weeks he has donned the goalie pads and faced shots from current Avalanche players, most recently Wednesday when he faced shots from defenseman Brad Stuart and forward Chris Wagner.

"Not bad, it's getting there," Roy, 50, said of his workout. "My second day today. It's coming. If I could lose 30 pounds, that'll help."

Roy, who won the Stanley Cup four times, as well as 551 regular-season games in 18 NHL seasons with the Montreal Canadiens and Avalanche, is excited about the opportunity to link up with old friends and face old rivals.

"I think it's going to be fun going on the ice with these guys," Roy said Wednesday. "You never know how it's going to turn, but you know one thing, there's a lot of respect deep inside every one of us."

A limited number of tickets to the Feb. 27 Stadium Series game and the special alumni game between the Avalanche and Red Wings on Feb. 26 at Coors Field are available for purchase via www.Ticketmaster.com/NHL and www.Ticketmaster.ca/NHL.

The Avalanche and Red Wings will face off one more time prior to the 2016 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series on Feb. 12, in Detroit.