How the Canes All-Stars have helped lift Carolina to the top of the NHL standings

The last time Sebastian Aho was in the NHL All-Star Game he cashed in on a $1 million jackpot.

Well, not all of it, but a nice chunk of it. Aho was on the winning Metropolitan Division team in 2019, and the reward was a $1 million payoff that the team split among the 11 players.

“It was a lot of fun,” Aho said.

You think?

Aho is going back to the All-Star Game this week in Las Vegas. So is Canes goalie Frederik Andersen, to compete Saturday on the Metro team coached by the Canes’ Rod Brind’Amour. Another $1 million awaits the winners.

The first thing Andersen’s teammates often mention is how calm he is in games. Talk about Aho, and the talk turns to how motivated, competitive and driven he is.

“With him, it’s always go, go, go,” Canes forward Andrei Svechnikov said.

Different styles, same elite results. And, they’re both big reasons why the Canes are 31-9-2 at the All-Star break.

Both Andersen and Aho expected to be spending much of February at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, Andersen competing for Denmark and Aho for Finland. Instead, the two will spend the weekend in Las Vegas with the All-Stars, then head back to Raleigh for a month packed with games from previous COVID-related postponements.

“It should be a good time,” Andersen said of the All-Star Weekend respite.

Andersen standing tall

Much like it has been a very good season. Andersen, in his first year with the Canes, has been unflappable in net, notching a 24-6-0 record, 2.01 goals-against average and .929 save percentage that are among the best in the league.

“He checks all the boxes,” Brind’Amour said.

Andersen, 32, played some of his best hockey before the All-Star break, winning three games in being named the NHL’s second star of the week.

“Freddie has been a solid brick wall back there,” defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. “Just a steady, calm goalie. You know you’re going to get his best effort back there every night, so you can appreciate that.”

Aho solid all around

Aho, 24, has continued his ascent to being one of the NHL’s most complete forwards. He centers the top line, is used on the top power-play unit and has helped the Canes lead the NHL in penalty killing with his quick stick and good instincts.

With 19 goals and 26 assists in 39 games, Aho should push for his first 40-goal season, even as he insists team success outweighs personal success.

“He’s super competitive and works insanely hard,” rookie forward Seth Jarvis said.

Aho, who has a tunnel-vision focus on game days, has served an an alternate captain this season for the Hurricanes. He might wear the “C” one day given the respect he has from his teammates, who like to call him “Fishy.”

“With Fishy, we know how good he is,” Slavin said. “The ability he has to take over games is special. It’s fun playing with him. You get him the puck and you know something good is going to happen.”

Svechnikov recently got Aho the puck in overtime against the Vegas Golden Knights. Aho beat goalie Laurent Brossoit and that was that: the beginning of the Canes’ active four-game win streak.

“He is a star for sure,” Svechnikov said. “I feel like I’m always learning from him. He never stops. it doesn’t matter if we’re up or down he’s always telling me go, go, go, that we’re going to go and produce and do our best. Whether down five goals or up five goals he’s always trying to play his best game out there.”

NHL All-Star festivities

The All-Star Game, a three-on-three competition, will be played Saturday at 3 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena. Each of the four divisional teams have nine skaters and two goalies for the three-game tournament.

There is also a new twist this year: There will be an outdoors skills competition Friday, including the NHL Fountain Face-Off at the Fountains of Bellagio.

It will be Las Vegas at its flashy best. Eight players will be taken by a boat to an improvised rink in the fountain and then shoot pucks at five targets. There also will be the Las Vegas NHL 21 in ‘22 skills competition, with players shooting pucks at a huge deck of playing cards.

There will be the usual skills competition Friday inside T-Mobile Arena: hardest shot, fastest skater, accuracy shooting, etc. Aho will participate in the accuracy shooting and Andersen in the “Save Streak” competition with other goalies.

It will be the second All-Star appearance for both Aho and Andersen. Aho had two goals and an assist in two games for the winning Metro team in 2019 in San Jose. Andersen competed for the Atlantic Division in 2020 in St. Louis, representing the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals was to be the Metro captain this year but will miss the game after testing positive for COVID-19. He was replaced by Caps teammate Tom Wilson and Claude Giroux of the Flyers will serve as Metro captain.

2022 NHL All-Star Game

When: Saturday, 3 p.m.

Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

TV/Radio: WTVD-ABC11, ESPN+ (simulcast).

Chip Alexander

The News & Observer

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In more than 40 years at The N&O, Chip Alexander has covered the N.C. State, UNC, Duke and East Carolina beats, and now is in his 15th season on the Carolina Hurricanes beat. Alexander, who has won numerous writing awards at the state and national level, covered the Hurricanes’ move to North Carolina in 1997 and was a part of The N&O’s coverage of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.