Rangers’ Trocheck, Shesterkin and Laviolette Excited for All Star Weekend Festivities  

Arrived in the Six. 

Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin, forward Vincent Trocheck and head coach Peter Laviolette kicked off the 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend festivities on Thursday night in downtown Toronto. 

All-Star Weekend, which spans from Feb. 1-3, commenced with a red-carpet introduction. Players and coaches greeted fans and signed autographs, then arrived at Scotiabank Arena, where they met with members of the media. The opening night concluded with the return of the All-Star Player Draft, marking the return of this element for the first time since 2015. This year’s format featured four team captains accompanied by a celebrity guest.

With the teams finalized, both Trocheck and Shesterkin were selected by Team Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs and celebrity captain/pop singer Justin Bieber.

Before the rest of the All-Star Weekend events continue with Friday’s Skills Competition and Saturday’s All-Star Game, Trocheck, Shesterkin and Laviolette shared their excitement towards representing the Rangers among some of the league’s best. For Trocheck, this marks the second time in his 11-year NHL career that he has earned All-Star honors after getting his first nod back in 2017 as a member of the Florida Panthers.

This time around, Trocheck is eager to make All-Star Weekend a family affair. The 30-year-old forward will share the weekend with his five-year-old son Leo, his three-year-old daughter Lennon, his wife, Hillary, his parents and his in-laws.

Leo in particular is hockey-crazed and has been following in his dad’s footsteps. According to Trocheck, Leo plays NHL all the time on his XBox and knows every mascot and every player in the league, which makes this weekend extra special.

“That’s number one for me –my son is five years old and is a huge hockey fan,” Trocheck said. “He talks about playing as the All-Stars on his video games all the time. That’s what I was most excited for, was for him to be able to witness that and see me in an All-Star game. That’s the coolest thing for me.”

Leo even joined his dad for his media availability and shared a similar sentiment.

When asked for his favorite part of the weekend, Leo immediately responded, “Hockey!”,’ and when prompted by his dad to share what he is looking forward to over the weekend has been he answered, “Having fun!”

For Shesterkin, this All-Star nod marks the second consecutive time that the Russian netminder has been selected to represent his club with some of the league’s best.

Shesterkin called his second All-Star nomination a “great honor,” and the magnitude of being recognized as one of the best isn’t lost on him.  

“To be in the NHL, it’s already special,” Shesterkin said. “For everybody, it’s a dream to play one game in the NHL or to be drafted. I am so happy I am an NHL player. I am so happy to be here two years in a row. It’s so special."

After taking over the helm of the Rangers last summer, Laviolette has coached the Rangers to the top of the Metropolitan Division with a 30-16-3 record and 63 points.

This year’s nomination marked the third time in Laviolette’s coaching career he has received the honors. The veteran bench boss marveled at the joys the weekend offers and being able to celebrate the sport and its best players.

“It’s always fun to come here,” Laviolette said. “For me, to be a representative of the New York Rangers and our staff and our players and our coaches for a strong start to the season, I’m honored to be here and do that. It’s a lot of fun. I was just asked about the stress level and for me, not so much here. It’s just a fun event. It’s great for the players to get recognized, it’s great for the fans who support the game so much… It’s a really good event just to see the best players in the world showcase their talent.”

While Laviolette was the one recognized for his coaching successes, he made sure to credit the entirety of the Rangers organization for the honors.

“It’s more a reflection of your team, the players, my coaching staff and the work they put into it,” Laviolette said. “The training staff, the medical staff – it’s more an organizational nod that our team is doing well. It’s not just a reflection on me. It’s nice to go, but for me, I view it more that our team has done good things in the first half and because of that, the coach gets collected.”