Anaheim Ducks: John Gibson is Headed to the All-Stars

John Gibson is headed to San Jose at the end of the month to represent the Anaheim Ducks and the Pacific Division at the All-Star Game.

The NHL All-Star Weekend starts on January 26, 2019, this year in San Jose. The rosters have been announced and John Gibson has been nominated to represent the Anaheim Ducks as one of two goaltenders for the Pacific Division.

The All-Star Game is traditionally held to mark the halfway point of the NHL season. In 2016, the league reformatted the game. Instead, each division would now compete in a single elimination tournament.

Three games will be played, three on three, with two ten minute halves. Whoever wins advances to the second round. If the game ends in a tie, instead of advancing to overtime, it will advance to a three-round shootout.

Every year, some of the best players from every team are chosen to represent their respective Divisions. The 2019 rosters did not disappoint.

Atlantic Division: Jack Eichel (Buffalo), Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay), Auston Matthews (Toronto), David Pastrnak (Boston), Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay), John Tavares (Toronto), Thomas Chabot (Ottawa), Keith Yandle (Florida), Jimmy Howard (Detroit), Carey Price (Montreal)

Central Division: Patrick Kane (Chicago), Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado), Ryan O’Reilly (St. Louis), Mikko Rantanen (Colorado), Mark Scheifele (Winnipeg), Blake Wheeler (Winnipeg), Miro Heiskanen (Dallas Stars), Roman Josi (Nashville), Devan Dubnyk (Minnesota), Pekka Rinne (Nashville)

Metropolitan Division: Sebastian Aho (Carolina), Cam Atkinson (Columbus), Mathew Barzal (NY-Islanders), Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh), Claude Giroux (Philadelphia), Taylor Hall (New Jersey), John Carlson (Washington), Seth Jones (Columbus), Braden Holtby (Washington), Henrik Lundqvist (NY-Rangers)

Pacific Division: Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary), Clayton Keller (Arizona), Connor McDavid (Edmonton), Joe Pavelski (San Jose), Elias Pettersson (Vancouver), Brent Burns (San Jose), Drew Doughty (Los Angeles), Erik Karlsson (San Jose), Marc-Andre Fleury (Vegas), John Gibson (Anaheim)

John Gibson Named to his Second All-Star Game

John Gibson is on his way to his second career NHL All-Star Game. His first appearance was in 2016 when the games were held in Nashville. The Pacific Division would end up defeating the Atlantic Division, 1-0, in the final game. The lone goal being scored by fellow teammate, Corey Perry.

In the skills competition, Gibson was chosen as the goaltender for the second round of the shootout. Unfortunately, he seemed overwhelmed by the skills competition, saving only 2 out of the 8 shots he faced.

He redeemed himself during the actual games, however. Sharing the net with Jonathan Quick, he posted a .850% save percentage. He saved 7 out of 10 shots in his first game and all 7 in his second.

Now that John Gibson has spent the past few years in the NHL, he is more confident. He has honed his skills as an elite goaltender and the opportunity to attend his second All-Star Game is well deserved.

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His current .925% save percentage, his phenomenal 17.87 goals saved above average, and his overall performance have earned him recognition in the national spotlight. He has grown a lot as a player over the past few seasons, making a name for himself as the best goaltender this season (if not the past few seasons.)

It is currently unknown as to which skills competitions he will be a part of. Nevertheless, if he performs in net the way he has been for Anaheim this season, the Pacific Division will have no issues moving on to the second round.

Hopefully, with Gibson and Fleury in the net, the Pacific Division can have back to back victories this year.

Ryan Getzlaf Still has a Chance

Ryan Getzlaf still has the opportunity to represent the Anaheim Ducks in the All-Star Games this year as well. The NHL has left one spot on each team open, and it is up to the fans to vote in the final player for each roster.

Eight other players in the Pacific Division have been nominated for the NHL All-Stars Last Men In. Ryan Getzlaf, Leon Draisaitl, Anze Kopitar, Logan Couture, Brock Boeser, Jonathan Marchessault, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Mark Giordano are all fighting for the last spot.

All of them are equally deserving, but as previously mentioned, this vote is completely up to you!

To vote for our captain to have a chance to represent the Anaheim Ducks in another All-Star Game, you can visit the NHL website.