Hockey

Jets' Maurice, Flames' Peters to be on bench at NHL all-star game

Paul Maurice of the Winnipeg Jets and Bill Peters of the Calgary Flames will be behind the bench for the Central and Pacific divisions at the NHL’s upcoming all-star game in San Jose.

Canadian-based head coaches entered play Saturday with 25 victories apiece

Head coach Paul Maurice, who will oversee the Central Division at the upcoming NHL all-star game, had guided the Jets to a 25-13-2 record through Friday. (Mark Humphrey/Associated Press)

Head coaches Paul Maurice of the Winnipeg Jets and Bill Peters of the Calgary Flames will be behind the bench for the Central and Pacific divisions at the NHL's upcoming all-star game.

Maurice is the third member of the Jets going to the all-star weekend on Jan. 25-26 in San Jose, joining forwards Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler.

The 51-year-old Maurice has guided Winnipeg to a 25-13-2 record through the first half of the season and a first place standing in the Central.

Last season under Maurice, the Jets won the first two playoff series in franchise history and reached the Western Conference final.

During the 2017-18 regular season, the Jets had their best record all-time at 52-20-10.

Flames, Golden Knights neck and neck

Under the all-star selection process, the head coach of the team with the highest points percentage (points earned divided by total possible points) in each of the four divisions through games of Jan. 5 — the halfway point of the regular season — will guide their respective all-star rosters.

Peters' Flames entered play Saturday atop the Pacific with a 25-13-4 mark, tied with Vegas in points (54) and wins (25) but having played two fewer games.

In his first full season with the Flames, Bill Peters led the team to a first-place standing in the Pacific Division through its first 42 games. (Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press)

The 52-year-old is the second Calgary head coach to work an all-star game, joining Terry Crisp in 1990 after he guided the Flames to their Stanley Cup victory the previous year.

Peters, who joined the Flames last April, will join forward Johnny Gaudreau in San Jose.

The native of Three Hills, Alta., previously coached in the NHL with Carolina and was an assistant with Detroit from 2011 through 2014.

With files from The Canadian Press