NHL All-Star Game celebrity captains live dream at player draft

TORONTO -- Michael Bublé is used to performing in front of a crowd. Will Arnett is used to performing on screen. The singer and the actor are used to being around other celebrities.

But this was different.

Here they were Thursday in front of a crowd at Scotiabank Arena and on live TV across North America, appearing with singers Justin Bieber and Tate McRae -- and 44 of the best players in the NHL.

As celebrity captains, they took part in the Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Player Draft to pick the teams for the 3-on-3 tournament in the 2024 Honda (U.S)/Rogers (Canada) NHL All-Star Game on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, CBC, TVAS).

“This is, like, the childhood dream of any kid who loves hockey, you know?” said Bublé, who is from the Vancouver area. “You’re out there with the guys you watch and scream for.”

Arnett, who is from Toronto, said he had met some Toronto Maple Leafs players before. But he had never met, say, Edmonton Oilers forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

“We were like kids up there,” Arnett said. “Yeah, you meet a lot of people. You meet a lot of entertainers. But I get star-struck around athletes, and growing up in Toronto, I get star-struck around hockey players, for sure.”

This was an All-Star night all right. It was all about the stars.

The NHL returned to the format it used for the All-Star Game in Carolina in 2011, Ottawa in 2012 and Columbus in 2015, having player captains pick the teams as if this were pond hockey.

The League brightened the spotlight by inviting the four celebrity captains too.

Bublé teamed up New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes, Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes and Canucks center Elias Pettersson.

Arnett assisted McDavid and Draisaitl.

Bieber, who is from London, Ontario, hung out with center Auston Matthews and defenseman Morgan Rielly of the Maple Leafs, spending much of the draft sitting down, leaning back, chilling.

McRae, who is from Calgary, helped center Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche.

The players are used to performing in front of a crowd, but obviously this was different for them too. They weren’t playing their sport; they were playing along and being good sports.

“It was fun to be a part of,” McDavid said. “Not every day do you get to draft a team out of the best players in the world, and Leon and I had a really good time with Will Arnett. He’s a great guy and made it fun for us. He was super entertaining, so it was fun to be up there.”

Jack Hughes came to Toronto to team up with his brother even though he is out with an upper-body injury and could have decided to rest and rehab elsewhere.

“I don’t know when I’ll get the chance to do this again with Quinn, so definitely it was important to both of us for me to come and show up,” he said. “I think it’s something we’ll look back on. It’s a really fun thing. I wish I was playing, but this is a really cool and special thing.”

The player captains stuck to the familiar for the most part, selecting teammates and buddies. One by one, the draft picks skated from their benches to the stage on the ice, trading an NHL team jersey for an All-Star jersey.

Team Hughes started by taking Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov with the No. 1 pick, then added Canucks forwards Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller, as well as Devils forward Jesper Bratt.

Team Matthews added Maple Leafs forwards William Nylander and Mitchell Marner, with Bieber telling Marner, “Mitchie? Get over here!” It was surreal to see NHL players get picked, come up to the stage and give Bieber a bro hug.

Team MacKinnon selected Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby -- who, like MacKinnon, is from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia -- and Avalanche goalie Alexandar Georgiev.

Team McDavid took the best players available. McDavid, who is from the Toronto area, drew cheers from the crowd during an interview just by saying, “Obviously, watching the Leafs growing up …” He didn’t need to finish the sentence.

Arnett said his phone went crazy in his pocket during the draft because of texts from his buddies. He was in the movie “Blades of Glory,” but this was glorious.

“They never text me about anything else I do,” Arnett said. “They couldn’t care less, and they’re like, ‘Oh, buddy. Saw you on the draft. You’re doing great.”

Bublé said his buddies kept congratulating him for being chosen by the NHL. He has sold more than 75 million records, won five Grammy Awards and 15 Juno Awards, but this was his first All-Star appearance.

“I was like, ‘Congratulations?’” Bublé said, laughing. “‘I’m a superstar!’”

Bublé joked he was upset. Arnett laughed at that.

“By the way,” Arnett said, “let me just say, ‘Congratulations.’”