LOS ANGELES, Feb. 1 -- The NHL All-Star Game will be played Saturday, but with the Olympics just a week away, this year's contest has almost been reduced to an afterthought.
Some who will play in the Olympic tournament decided to pass on the 52nd annual contest that will send a team of North American stars against a group representing the rest of the world. Jere Lehtinen of the Dallas Stars underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Tuesday so he could recover in time to represent Finland at Salt Lake City.
"The All-Star Game was important to me, but getting back to play for my team and in the Olympics was even more important," said Lehtinen, who was replaced in the World team lineup by Espen Knutsen of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Knutsen's addition brought to 10 the number of nations represented at this weekend's festitivies.
Also missing will be Olympians Eric Lindros and Brian Rafalski, both of whom are recovering from sprained knees. Lindros was replaced in the North American lineup by New York Rangers teammate Mike York while U.S. Olympic team captain Chris Chelios of the Detroit Red Wings fills in for Rafalski.
"It is an unusual situation and often, the same guys that might go to an All-Star Game would get the chance to go and play for their country in the Olympics as well," said North American coach Pat Quinn of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"So that's the onerous part of it. And these kids are tired, they are looking for a little break and they think,'that's a place where I can take the break.'"
Of the 12 players elected to the starting lineups, only two -- Vincent Damphousse and Patrick Roy of the North American squad -- will not appear in the Olympics. Damphousse was not picked for Team Canada while Roy touched off a controversy when he announced he would bypass Salt Lake City.
All six World starters will be back at the Olympics, led by Czech goaltender Dominik Hasek, one of four members of the Detroit Red Wings who will start Saturday at the Staples Center.
He is joined on the World team by Red Wings teammates Nicklas Lidstrom of Sweden and Sergei Fedorov of Russia. Lidstrom, the reigning Norris Trophy winner, starts on defense alongside Sandis Ozolinsh of Latvia, who recently was traded from the Carolina Hurricanes to the Florida Panthers.
Fedorov will center a forward line that includes Sharks right wing Teemu Selanne of Finland and Czech right wing Jaromir Jagr of the Washington Capitals.
Detroit's Scotty Bowman, the winningest coach in NHL history, will be behind the World team bench, assisted by Brian Sutter of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Quinn coaches the North American team with assistant Robbie Ftorek of the Boston Bruins. Alongside Damphousse up front will be Sharks teammate Owen Nolan and Brendan Shanahan of the Red Wings.
Former Norris Trophy winners Rob Blake of the Colorado Avalanche and Chris Pronger of the St. Louis Blues start on defense and Roy makes his 10th All-Star appearance in the nets.
Quinn has an impressive cast of reserves that includes Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux, Joe Sakic and two of the NHL's top three scorers, Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames and Joe Thornton of the Bruins.
Sean Burke of the Phoenix Coyotes and Jose Theodore of the Montreal Canadiens will spell Roy.
Hasek's backups, Tommy Salo of the Edmonton Oilers and Nikolai Khabibulin of the Tampa Bay Lightning, will start for Sweden and Russia in Salt Lake City.
Theodore, Iginla and Thornton are three of six first-time All-Stars on the North American team, joining wingers Mark Parrish of the New York Islanders and Eric Daze of the Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators defenseman Wade Redden.
There are only three first-timers on the World team -- Blackhawks center Alexei Zhamnov and defensemen Tomas Kaberle of the Maple Leafs and Jaroslav Modry of the Los Angeles Kings.
Last year in Denver, there were five members of the host Avalanche in the starting lineup. Winger Ziggy Palffy is the only other Kings player in Saturday's contest as Los Angeles hosts the All-Star Game for the first time since 1981.
North America has won three of the four games played under this format, including last year's 14-12 triumph in the highest-scoring All-Star Game in NHL history. And that was no aberration. The last five All-Star Games have featured an average of 17 goals. Content: 15031000
