January 11th, Part II

KOVALCHUK, HOSSA ADDED TO EAST ALL-STAR ROSTER

Left wing Ilya Kovalchuk and right wing Marian Hossa from the All-Star host Atlanta Thrashers headline the list of additions to the Eastern Conference roster for the 2008 NHL All-Star Game, Sunday, Jan. 27 at Philips Arena in Atlanta.

Kovalchuk, who tallied his League-leading 36th goal Thursday against Florida and is on pace for a 65-goal season, will be making his second career All-Star Game appearance. His 61 points (36 goals, 25 assists) rank second in the NHL scoring race, two behind the Tampa Bay Lightning's Vincent Lecavalier. Hossa, who in 2006-07 became the first player in Thrashers history to score 100 points and who ranks second on the club in scoring this season with 16-22--38 in 42 games, will play in his fourth All-Star Game.

Left wing Dany Heatley and center Jason Spezza of the Eastern Conference's top- ranked Ottawa Senators also were added, joining the third member of the NHL's highest-scoring trio, right wing Daniel Alfredsson, who was voted to the starting lineup. The three would be the first forward line from the same club to skate in an All-Star Game since the Pittsburgh Penguins' Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Kevin Stevens represented the Prince of Wales Conference in 1992 at Philadelphia.

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin, whose 32 goals rank second in the NHL to Kovalchuk, has been selected to his second All-Star Game berth. The Russian pair were teammates at the 2007 World Championships in Moscow and the 2006 Olympics in Turin.

Heatley also will reunite with Kovalchuk; the linemates broke into the NHL with the Thrashers in 2001-02 and finished 1-2 in Calder Trophy voting, respectively, as the League's top rookies. Heatley played three seasons with Atlanta before his trade to Ottawa in August, 2005, the deal in which the Thrashers acquired Hossa.

Joining Spezza as first-time All-Stars named today are New York Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro and Philadelphia Flyers center Mike Richards.

Others named to the Eastern Conference roster: goaltender Tomas Vokoun of the Florida Panthers; defensemen Brian Campbell of the Buffalo Sabres, Sergei Gonchar of the Penguins, Tomas Kaberle of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Kimmo Timonen of the Philadelphia Flyers, and forwards Scott Gomez of the New York Rangers, Martin St. Louis of the Lightning and Eric Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes.

The head coach of the Eastern Conference All-Stars will be the Senators' John Paddock, making his first career All-Star Game coaching appearance.

The roster additions were selected by the NHL’s Hockey Operations Department, after consultation with League General Managers.

The players selected today join Alfredsson and the other five players voted by fans to the starting lineup, forwards Sidney Crosby of the Penguins and Vincent Lecavalier of the Lightning, defensemen Andrei Markov of the Montreal Canadiens and Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins and goaltender Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils.