MRFHL All-Stars Descend on Toronto

Toronto comes to life as the very best of the MRFHL comes to town for the Friday afternoon All-Star Draft.  Hometown heroes Sam Reinhart and Zach Werenski headline the Eastern Conference team along with Connor McDavid and Cale Makar while Auston Matthews and Nathan MacKinnon lead the way for the West.

The draft was alive with jokes and jeers from participating General Managers starting from the opening address by Toronto boss Clayton Hansler as the newcomer warmly welcomed 30 of his colleagues to Toronto, all but Edmonton's Tanner Brathwaite.  The two have enjoyed a season full of playful jabbing since the Edmonton GM's comments on Toronto signing Jean-Gabriel Pageu in the offseason.

The full All-Star leadership group was announced Thursday as Western Conference leading St. Louis' GM Stu was joined by Jeremy of the Avs and Ryan from the Jets.  The Eastern Conference team is lead by Carolina's Jerrald who added Bill from Ottawa and Austin from Detroit; who received a stadium of friendly boos from the fans at Scotiabank Arena when they were announced Friday afternoon.

With a season as electric as the MRFHL has experienced, there was bound to be a couple suprises when it came to players left off their respective All-Star team.  Of note, the league's shot leader, William Nylander, was evidently of no interest to the East as none of Montreal's nominated players were selected.  Maple Leafs captain John Tavares was also suprisingly left behind, despite his large fan following in his home town. 

In the West, none of Seattle's three players were selected, Derek being the outgoing Toronto GM who was driven out of town after missing the playoffs in 2023-24.  Suprisingly Edmonton's Connor Hellebuyck was left off the team, as the Oiler to be selected was Josh Morrissey.

Teams are scheduled for a full practice on Saturday ahead of Sunday's 4pm game.

In other notes, Chantal Kreviazuk was originally tapped to sing the national anthem ahead of the game, but reports are Toronto suggest they are racing to find a competent replacement after recent performances.  Scotiabank Arena may very well decide to play a YouTube video if a suitable replacement is not found.

Full All-Star rosters are as follows:

Eastern Conference

Western Conference