COLUMBUS, Ohio — Rangers and Islanders, together at last. And go ahead and toss in a Devil for good measure.
Team New York, at least for this weekend.
Come Sunday’s NHL All-Star Game at Nationwide Arena, Rangers star Rick Nash, Islanders captain John Tavares and goalie Jaroslav Halak, along with Devils forward Patrik Elias, all will be suiting up for the same team, the one captained by Jonathan Toews. They’ll be taking on a team captained by hometown favorite, Nick Foligno.
Nash, earlier named an alternate captain for Team Toews, didn’t announce the selection of Tavares in the fifth round Friday’s fantasy draft — an event that was surprisingly entertaining, supplemented by an abundance of libations. Instead, it was the Ducks’ Ryan Getzlaf, the other alternate captain, who decided to call Tavares “Jonathan,” which isn’t his name, and then say he’s a “two-way forward,” really a backhanded compliment in an environment like this.
“I appreciate the props from Getzy there, nothing like getting some love from your peers,” Tavares said. “I didn’t expect that one, that’s for sure.”
With a bit more seriousness, Nash begrudgingly acknowledged being happy with the selection.
“He’s one of the best players in the game — as much as it hurts to say, him being an Islander,” Nash said. “But [he was a] Canadian Olympic teammate, so kind of hard to take him.”
There was a rule — because there need to be rules for things like this? — that each team needed three goalies taken by the 10th round. So with their 10th pick, with five goalies already gone, Team Toews took Halak, who belatedly had been named as a replacement after some injuries.
“None better,” Toews said on stage, white cup in hand, “than Jaroslav Hal-lack!”
When Elias was finally chosen in the 12th round, it was pointed out by the hosts on stage that he 38-year-old played his first NHL game before 18-year-old rookie Aaron Ekblad was born.
“I threw the disclaimer out there before taking Patrik,” said Nash, who warned Rangers fans that they might not like the pick. “But he’s a guy that’s respected around the league, and glad to have him.”
Nash is tied with the Stars’ Tyler Sequin for the league lead in goals with 28, and this will be his sixth career All-Star Game, more than anyone else suiting up on Sunday. Tavares, 24, is playing in his second All-Star Game, tied for 11th in the league with 45 points in the first 46 games.
“Some of us don’t know each other very well,” Tavares said. “So that’s part of the weekend — just trying to enjoy it.”
Going first in the draft was Ryan Johansen, the Blue Jackets forward chosen by his teammate, Foligno, to the cheers of the fans.
Taken by Team Toews, second overall, was the Maple Leafs’ Phil Kessel, who was the first player to be picked last when the league first started this draft process in 2012. Kessel recently was in the midst of a controversy in Toronto, where his coach, Randy Caryle, was fired, and there were rumblings that he was difficult to coach.
“He’s one of the most coachable players out there,” Toews said to many hearty laughs.
The two teams then traded Kessel for Seguin — the first trade in All-Star Game draft history! — which essentially is the deal made in 2009, when the Bruins sent Kessel to the Maple Leafs in exchange for two first-round picks and a second-round pick, one of which became Seguin.
“It worked out before,” Foligno said.
The battle for last pick — and a brand new Honda Accord — was between Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Filip Forsberg, and it was voted on by the fans, so neither was actually picked last, and both youngsters got a car. (Much to the chagrin of a very loose Alexander Ovechkin, making a spectacle while lobbying to be the last pick.)
Yet for Team New York, all the camaraderie will go by the wayside come Tuesday, when the Rangers head out to the Coliseum to take on the first-place islanders.
But for now? It’s all just fun.
“It was a couple good laughs,” Nash said. “The main thing is that the fans enjoyed it.”
