all-star spectacular

For the second time since the opening of Staples Center, the LA Kings got to host the NHL All-Star Weekend this year, Saturday January 28th and 29th. 

Being me, I of course had to be there for both the All-Star Skills Competition on Saturday and the All-Star Game on Sunday. 

Here's a photo essay of the weekend-o-hockey-fun!

Saturday: Fan-Fair and the Skills Competition

Oh, hey Drew Doughty. You look a lot better up there than Crybaby Crosby does ;)

Because it's LA, we of course had an All-Star Weekend Sand Castle  :) 

My favorite All-Stars, for obvious reasons

In honor of the 20th Anniversary of Wayne's World, a pop-up Stan Mikita's All-Star Cafe was set up in front of the Fan Fair. They gave away free donuts (that tasted like Krispy Kreme) and hosted autograph sessions and player/celebrity panels every few hours. 

We just happened to arrive at the All-Star Cafe in time to catch the Great One (aka Wayne Gretzky) on a panel with Brett Hull and David Boreanez, talking about the All-Star Celebrity Shootout game Saturday afternoon they were all participating in. (Wayne was not as grumpy as he looks in this photo, I swear.)

We also caught Hall of Fame hotties Mike Modano and Chris Chelios signing autographs. (And I was super-annoyed when some lady who just showed up for the free donuts asked me who they were!)

The NHL Fan Fair had food, kids stuff, autograph lines I wasn't going to wait in, collectibles and a really cool display of all the NHL Awards. Here are the awards with LA Kings on them (minus the Stanley Cup.. you had to reserve time to see that up close).

The Norris Trophy for Best Defensemen, won by Rob Blake in 1998 (photo on right) 

and Drew Doughty last season.

The Selke Trophy for Best Defensive Forward, won by Anze Kopitar last season.

The Conn Smythe Trophy, for NHL Playoff MVP, won by Jonathan Quick in 2012 

and Justin Williams in 2014.

The Veznia Trophy, for Best Goaltender, never won by a King (yet... Jonathan Quick has been nominated twice). But I include it here because, seeing it close up, I noticed that is has a goalie net in the middle of it, which I think is pretty cool :)

The Jennings Trophy, given to the goaltender with the fewest goals against, 

won by Jonathan Quick in 2014

The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, for the player exhibiting the best sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct, won by Wayne Gretzky multiple times, and Anze Kopitar last season.

Inside of Staples Center decked out (see the walls below the restaurant) for the weekend with logos from all the teams and the names of the four divisions competing.

The pre-Skills Competition intros.

Jeff Carter (#77) and Drew Doughty (the 2nd #8), being from the host team LA Kings, were the last players introduced before the four fan-voted Captains.

Sunday: All-Star Game

Dreeeeew and Carts during warmups.

Prior to the game, the members of the "NHL 100" (who had been introduced in a ceremony Friday night) all walked onto the ice and were introduced one by one. This was probably the coolest moment of the weekend...seeing that caliber of talent all in one place at the same time, in their jerseys. #chills

The current All-Stars went down that line as they were introduced (they skated out from under that triangle thingy), shaking hands with each historic player. Then, after the anthems, the members of the 100, all dropped a puck to a current All-Star to start the game, performing the largest, most talented puck-drop in NHL history!

The final score of "Round 1" which sent my Pacific team to the Final Round against the Metropolitan division, who ended up beating them 4-3 (cuz they were coached by Gretzky ;p).