Roenick part of NHL Network's All-Star coverage

It's official, Maxx-client and retired NHL great Jeremy Roenick will be a part of the NHL Network's All-Star coverage this weekend.  Check out the release from NHL.com.

Thanks to the new format for choosing sides in the 2011 NHL All-Star Game presented by Discover, it is possible members of the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers will team up at RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C., just months after battling for the Stanley Cup.

NHL Network will have a special guest analyst for All-Star Weekend with plenty of history playing for both. Jeremy Roenick, a nine-time All-Star who spent eight seasons with Chicago and three playing for Philadelphia, will join the crew breaking down the weekend -- including a one-on-one on-ice challenge with ex-NHL goaltender and colleague Kevin Weeks.

The inclusion of "JR" is just one of the highlights of All-Star Weekend coverage in Raleigh by NHL Network, NHL.com, NHL Radio and NHL Mobile.

While Team Staal and Team Lidstrom will pick their rosters Friday night, NHL Network will have its own All-Star captains and a mock draft Thursday evening. Weekes and fellow ex-player Mike Johnson will try to pick the teams with their own fantasy draft as Brian Duff hosts.

There will also be pre- and post-draft shows Friday night on the network with Deb Placey and Heidi Androl interviewing players and their families in the green room. Captains Eric Staal and Nicklas Lidstrom will talk strategy before the draft and the alternate captains will be interviewed afterwards for insight into the picks and to handicap the weekend.

NHL Network coverage on Saturday will include a three-hour pregame show leading up to the Honda SuperSkills with interviews from the NHL All-Star Red Carpet Show and Commissioner Gary Bettman’s State of the League news conference. There will also be a post-SuperSkills recap show.

There will be three more hours of NHL Network coverage on game day, including pre- and post-game shows from inside RBC Center with plenty of highlights and interviews.

NHL.com will have the entire weekend covered with exclusive interviews and videos on the 2011 NHL All-Star microsite (Link). Some of the highlights will include a live blog during the game and stories on the NHL Fan Fair, The Guardian Project and features on many of the players and personalities in town for the event. The Blackberry All-Access Show will also have special All-Star Weekend programming as well.

NHL Radio will have a special broadcast of the game. John Forslund handles the play-by-play duties with guest analyst Aaron Ward, a Stanley Cup champion with the Carolina Hurricanes, and E.J. Hradek joining the broadcast with ice-level reports. Doug Brown will be hosting the broadcast.

The NHL will be giving away prizes all weekend on Twitter to fans following @nhl and @nhl#NHLAllStar. There will also be tips from the NHL on Foursquare application on events to check out throughout the weekend like NHL Fan Fair.

NHL Mobile will give fans a chance to vote for their favorite All-Stars during the Blackberry NHL Breakaway Challenge, which is part of the SuperSkills competition, and in the 2011 Honda NHL All-Star MVP Award Text-to-Vote Promotion.

The 2011 NHL All-Star Game presented by Discover will be televised Sunday at 4 p.m. on VERSUS, CBC and RDS.