NEW YORK — Rick Bowness of the Winnipeg Jets and Rick Tocchet of the Vancouver Canucks will join Boston’s Jim Montgomery and Peter Laviolette of the New York Rangers as the head coaches for the NHL All-Star Game.
The league said Sunday the coaches of the teams with the highest points percentage in each of the four divisions through Saturday’s games will guide the four All-Star rosters for the Feb. 3 event in Toronto.
The Central Division-leading Jets (28-10-4) have the best points percentage in the NHL at .714. The Pacific Division-leading Canucks (29-11-3) are next at .709, ahead of the Atlantic Division-leading Bruins (.702, 25-8-9) and the Metropolitan Division-leading Rangers (.667, 27‑13‑2).
Laviolette is making his fourth All-Star appearance as a head coach (2011, 2015, 2018), tops among active head coaches in the league. Montgomery is making his second career appearance after he also went last season.
Tocchet is making his second career trip to the All-Star Game as head coach (2020), to go along with four appearances during an 18-year NHL playing career. Bowness is making his All-Star head coaching debut next month.