Toews, Kane, Hossa selected for NHL All-Star Game

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Jonathan Toews (from left), Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa were named to the roster for the 2012 All-Star Game. | Tom Cruze~Sun-Times

Updated: January 12, 2012 2:33PM

Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa were named to the roster for the 2012 All-Star Game on Jan. 29 at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, the league announced Thursday.

It is the third selection for both Toews and Kane and it will be the fifth All-Star appearance for Hossa, who turned 33 on Thursday.

“That is a nice birthday [present],” said Hossa, who has 45 points (17 goals, 28 assists) in 42 games. “It’s always an honor to be picked among the top players and we’re looking forward to it – especially [because] it’s in Ottawa, where everything started for me.”

Hossa spent the first seven season of his NHL career with the Ottawa Senators, for which he was a two-time all-star. It is his first all-star nod as a Hawk.

“To still have that motivation that he has to be one of the best in the world is really something,” Toews said of Hossa. “It is something to look up to and hopefully he has a good game.”

The 42 all-stars will drafted onto two teams under the same format as the last all-star game. The captains that will make the selections have yet to be decided.

Toews, who has 42 points (22 goals, 20 assists), is looking forward to the All-Star Game returning to his native Canada for the first time since 2009 when it was held at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

“Everywhere you go, people know who you are. You walk into 7-Eleven, people are watching you, following you,” Toews said. “It’s fun for me. I have a lot of family out east in Quebec and it’s not too far for them to come. It’s definitely a big deal to those people. They’ll all be excited to get the opportunity to come back and watch that game.”

Patrick Sharp, who tallied 40 points (20 goals, 20 assists) before he suffered a suspected fracture in his left hand/ wrist Sunday against the Detroit Red Wings, was a notable exclusion from the roster. Sharp was the All-Star Game MVP last year at the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C.

“It has to be 100 percent [about the injury] in my mind because they’re not sure if he’ll be back in time yet,” Toews said. “There’s no doubt that he should be there.”

Toews beat Sharp in a replayed shooting accuracy competition during All-Star Skills Competition last year. Toews told officials he hadn’t heard the horn to start to contest, got a rematch and beat the 2011 All-Star Game MVP.

“It wasn’t so much as him cheating as it was me whining about it,” Toews joked. “Those things are always fun, maybe we’ll do something different this year. Who knows, maybe I’ll be the captain and see if I can pick Kaner last, for once.”

Former Hawks Dustin Byfuglien and Brian Campbell were also named to the All-Star roster.