NHL stars will be flocking to Northern California around this time next year.

The 2019 NHL All-Star Game will be hosted by the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center.

It will be the second time San Jose will host the festivities, having previously done so in 1997.

Next year's All-Star weekend will run Jan. 25-27, 2019.

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Victor Hedman will be taking part in All-Star weekend, albeit in a rather unexpected role.

The injured Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman was named the assistant to the equipment manager for Saturday's skills competition and for the Atlantic Division's entry in the All-Star tournament on Sunday.

He'll assist head equipment manager Ray Thill, who serves the same position with the Lightning.

Hedman was originally named to the Atlantic Division squad but got hurt against the Calgary Flames two days later, and was later ruled out for three-to-six weeks.

His father, Olle, was an equipment manager for Swedish club MoDo for 23 years.

The All-Star festivities are taking place in Tampa Bay, Fla. this weekend.

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It did not take long for George Parros to find himself in the thick of NHL suspension controversies.

Parros is serving as the NHL's head of player safety, and recently came under fire as a result of two contentious decisions: a two-game suspension for Anaheim's Andrew Cogliano that ended the Ducks forward's iron man streak at 830 games, and a maximum fine levied on Dustin Brown of the Los Angeles Kings for a dangerous looking cross-check.

Parros addressed the decisions in a report at the NHL's Board of Governors meeting in Tampa on Saturday, beginning with Cogliano's hit on Adrian Kempe, per Dan Rosen of NHL.com:

Anytime we see interference that late with significant head contact, it's been a suspension. This one, the Cogliano interference itself, was among the very latest we've seen. There was significant head contact. We have all sorts of comparables, players suspended for hits that didn't occur as late as Cogliano's with zero head contact.

Parros admitted it was a tough decision to suspend his former Ducks teammate, whose consecutive games streak was the fourth-longest in league history.

The other play in question was this cross-check by Brown on Justin Schultz, which earned the King a $10,000 fine in lieu of a suspension, a decision that was met with much criticism.

Again, Parros defended his call:

The Brown incident and Cogliano incident are two different animals. It's apples to oranges, really. Cogliano's was an interference with significant head contact. Dustin Brown's was a cross-checking incident. It's very natural to want to compare the two and the forces involved in the situations, but they're quite different. With Dustin Brown, we examined all sorts of things ... and at the end of the day the force doesn't really compare at all with any of the cross-checking or boarding suspensions we've had in the past. He was subject to a hearing, got fined the maximum amount allowable by the CBA and compared to other plays like that one, it's a stiffer fine than usual.

Parros accepted the position prior to the start of the preseason, following in the footsteps of former players Stephane Quintal and Brendan Shanahan, his immediate predecessors.

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The ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones came up with a spectacular way to commemorate the 25th anniversary of "The Mighty Ducks."

The team will wear three different jerseys during Saturday's game against the Fort Wayne Komets, each modeled after the ones featured in the hockey movie trilogy. The jerseys will then be auctioned off beginning Jan. 29.

"These were based on the three movie jerseys, so I had to do some research into the jerseys, number, and name fonts," Athletic Knit's Jeff Tasca, who designed the jerseys, told Paul Caputo of SportsLogos.net. "Since there were a lot of jersey knock-off images out there I looked at a lot of movie screen captures and official movie prop images to get the numbers as right as I could."

ABC Signature Studios is reportedly working on a television series based on "The Mighty Ducks" franchise, which could be shopped to cable networks and streaming platforms later this year.

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Now there's something worthy of cuing up "Brass Bonanza."

The state of Connecticut has unveiled a new license plate design that features the iconic Hartford Whalers logo, 21 years after the team left.

The franchise relocated to Raleigh and now plays as the Carolina Hurricanes, but passion for the Whalers never left Hartford.

"I ask the Whalers fans to get out there and purchase those license plates because maybe then they will come back," said Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, according to the Associated Press.

"We'll keep hoping. It was two decades ago that we lost on the Whalers, but in our hearts we have not."

The plates start at $60, and $45 from each sale will go toward a new infusion and dialysis center at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center.

It's not the first time Connecticut has pushed for the NHL to return in some form. Last February, Gov. Dannel Malloy invited the New York Islanders to play out of the XL Center (the Whalers' former home) when it seemed they had run out of options for a new arena in New York.

The state has also discussed a $250-million renovation to the XL Center, which opened in 1975, to bring it up to modern standards in an effort to lure the NHL back.

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James Neal's agent doesn't expect his client to be dealt prior to the NHL's Feb. 26 trade deadline.

The winger is representing the expansion Vegas Golden Knights at the NHL's All-Star festivities in Tampa, Fla., and all signs point to Neal sticking around for a surprise playoff run and contract extension in the weeks ahead.

"I don’t negotiate in public, but if the trade deadline comes and goes, I will be shocked if James is on another team," agent Pat Morris said, per Ed Graney of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "No other team has called me and said they are close to acquiring James. I think it’s full steam ahead for Vegas, and if we could agree to terms for him to (remain with the Knights) we would welcome that. He loves it there."

Neal can become an unrestricted free agent July 1, and before the season, it was expected he'd be dangled by the first-year club in order to acquire future assets. With Vegas sitting near the top of the league standings, he gives them a real chance at making noise in the playoffs.

"I don’t know (owner) Bill Foley, but he obviously has a passion to win," Morris continued. "His timetable of winning in three to five years has obviously changed now. This is not an irresponsible organization. You have to go for it when you have the chance, and James Neal and his play and leadership has been a huge part of what has happened there."

At the All-Star break, Neal sits second on the Golden Knights with 22 goals through 48 games and ranks sixth with 34 points. The 30-year-old played a big role in Nashville's run to the Stanley Cup FInal a year ago before being exposed in the expansion draft.

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A Nashville Predators fan flew from Pennsylvania to Tennessee on Thursday, only to realize the team was on the road that night.

Sydney Sanders told Kristopher Martel of FOX Sports Tennessee she bought tickets to watch the Predators take on the New Jersey Devils about a week in advance, but failed to look at where the game was being played.

"All I did is look up the Predators schedule and see what teams they were playing," Sanders said. "I saw the day before my birthday they were playing the Devils. I thought, 'Oh cool, I'll go to Nashville and catch a game.' I'm trying to go to every NHL arena, so I figured I'm finally going to get Bridgestone (Arena) off the list.

"I then found out the game was in Newark, which is like two hours away from where I live, driving. Instead, I flew two hours away from home to watch an away game."

Sanders' trip wasn't a complete waste. After she tweeted about her mistake, the Predators gave her a signed puck, rally towel, scarf, luggage tag, and schedule to take home with her.

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Four teams will take part in regular-season games in Europe next season, reports Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

Among the matchups, the Florida Panthers and Winnipeg Jets will square off for two games in Finland in November. Tampere native Patrik Laine is sure to be a draw, as is Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov, who hails from the same hometown.

Additionally, the Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey Devils will square off twice in Sweden at the beginning of next season. It's a homecoming for a number of players from both squads, including Oilers blue-liners Adam Larsson and Oscar Klefbom, and Devils forwards Marcus Johansson and Jesper Bratt.

The Oilers will also head overseas during the preseason for an exhibition game held in Germany, the home country of forward Leon Draisaitl, while the Devils will do the same in Switzerland, where Nico Hischier will play in front of a home crowd.

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Goaltender interference is a hot topic at the NHL's All-Star festivities in Tampa.

The NHL's Board of Governors discussed the issue in a Saturday morning meeting, with the conversation centered around officials overthinking the call and getting too technical with the rule, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.

Further meetings are on the docket:

In recent weeks, there's been confusion over why some goals are overturned while others stand in the midst of apparent goaltender interference.

Just prior to the All-Star break, Connor McDavid was upset with an overturned call and he later chirped the officials in response.

Clearly, it's an area of the game that needs to be clarified.

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The 63rd edition of the NHL All-Star Game kicks off Sunday in Tampa Bay, where the game's best will decide which is hockey's most dominant division.

It marks the third straight year the NHL has opted for the divisional format. The Metropolitan took last season's title in Los Angeles, and the Pacific Division won it all two years ago in Nashville.

So which side will earn this year's crown? Each team is loaded with talent. Alex Ovechkin (Metropolitan), Steven Stamkos (Atlantic), P.K. Subban (Central), and Connor McDavid (Pacific) captain their respective squads.

The full rosters can be seen here.

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