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NHL All-Star Celebrity Shootout Presents Star-Studded Cast

By Suraj Sukumar

Nov 6, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Dancing cardboard caricatures of the newest class of Hall of Fame inductees Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Pronger, Sergei Fedorov and Phil Housley during the Toronto Maple Leafs game against the Detroit Red Wings at Air Canada Centre. The Red Wings beat the Maple Leafs 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 6, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Dancing cardboard caricatures of the newest class of Hall of Fame inductees Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Pronger, Sergei Fedorov and Phil Housley during the Toronto Maple Leafs game against the Detroit Red Wings at Air Canada Centre. The Red Wings beat the Maple Leafs 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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The NHL All-Star Celebrity Shootout will feature Justin Bieber, Tim Robbins, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Taylor Kitsch, to name a few

The NHL All-Star Celebrity Shootout should be a blast with several Hall of Famers hitting ice once again. Not to mention, bringing stars like Justin Bieber should do wonders for the sport’s popularity in the United States. NHL.com released the official rosters for the NHL All-Star Celebrity Shootout early this morning, and long-time hockey fans should be excited.

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Mario Lemieux (Team Black) and Wayne Gretzky (Team White) will go head-to-head this afternoon with plenty of talent to their names. Here is a look at the full rosters as per NHL.com.

Team Black

Team Lemieux

Ray Bourque, Peter Forsberg, Sergei Fedorov, Jari Kurri, Larry Robinson, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, Luc Robitaille, Peter Stastny, David Boreanaz, Taylor Kitsch, Riker Lynch, Ross Lynch
Ron MacLean, Steven R. McQueen, Teemu Selanne, Vincent Piazza, Angela Ruggiero, Mr. Zhou (goalie)

Team White

Team Gretzky

Justin Bieber, Patrick Kane, Rob Blake, Mike Gartner, Eric Lindros. Nicklas Lidstrom, Joe Sakic, Denis Savard, Borje Salming, Cuba Gooding Jr, Jerry Bruckheimer, Joe Nieuwendyk, Billy Flynn, Michael Rosenbaum, Tim Robbins, Carter Thicke, Ken Baker (goalie), James Badge Dale (goalie)

Justin Bieber is certainly the biggest name, but hockey talent is a different question. Team Lemieux sports the legendary duo of Niedermayer and Pronger on defense. But Joe Sakic, Patrick Kane, and Eric Lindros could create some magic for Team Gretzky.

The NHL continues to search for ways to improve their popularity in the U.S., and this is an interesting step. Hockey fans may not care for the Biebers or the Ross and Riker Lynchs of the world, but the NHL legends should be more than enough. For the younger crowd, who may not know these players, the introduction of pop stars could create some buzz with the youngsters.

It could also be a complete flop.

Next: NHL Daily: All-Star Weekend Edition (Headlines)

The NHL has plenty of marketing moves on the horizon, including the Vegas Golden Knights expansion team in Las Vegas. Whether any of these plans improve their share of the American market remains to be seen. However, with the NHL transitioning to a more skilled-based on-ice product, they are headed in the right direction.

With another All-Star weekend on the docket, hockey fans should hope for one more weekend of priceless shenanigans. At least this time, they will get to see some of their NHL favorites hit the ice once again. May the best team win.

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