They didn’t get five players in like Chicago did (keep stuffing those ballot boxes, Hawks fans), but the Los Angeles Kings will have a presence in Columbus. In addition to Coach Darryl Sutter, LA gets two players in the big game… and one in the warm-up act.
Kopitar, Doughty are your #LAKings All-Stars. Pearson will also take part as one of six rookies, but will only participate in skills comp.
— Jon Rosen (@lakingsinsider) January 10, 2015
The full All-Star Game rosters are available here.
Somehow, this is Drew Doughty‘s first appearance in an All-Star Game, though that’s more due to bad luck than anything; Doughty’s two best seasons (2009-10 and 2013-14) came in Olympic seasons, when no All-Star Game was played. Doughty did appear in the Young Stars Game in 2009. Anze Kopitar, on the other hand, is making his third appearance. This is the first time he’s going with a teammate; he was LA’s lone rep in 2008 and in 2011. (Jonathan Quick was the sole King selected in 2012, but the MVP that year was none other than Marian Gaborik.)
It’s also fun to see Tanner Pearson earning a trip to Columbus. The fourth-leading goal scorer among rookies gets to join the three guys ahead of him (Filip Forsberg, Johnny Gaudreau, and Mike Hoffman) as well as 2013 #3 pick Jonathan Drouin and 2014 #1 pick Aaron Ekblad.
For the record, every other Pacific Division team only had one player selected to the All-Star Game, though like the Kings, the Flames got a rookie rep as well. Brent Burns and Ryan Getzlaf are the other Californians who will appear.
The game takes place on January 25 at Nationwide Arena.