Iafrate an All-Star for 4th time

Washington Capitals defenseman Al Iafrate was added to the NHL Eastern Conference All-Star team yesterday. It will be Iafrate's fourth All-Star appearance and the news of his inclusion brought a smile.

"You know, I haven't had my best year," Iafrate said, an ice pack on his sprained right knee. "All the other years I was an All-Star, I played good. But there was a year or two, one in Toronto and the year I came here, I could have been picked and wasn't. So it all evens out. [Montreal and Eastern Conference All-Star coach] Jacques Demers probably had something to do with picking me, so I guess all the times I went to his restaurant when he was coaching in Detroit must have paid off."

Iafrate's previous All-Star appearances were in 1988, 1990 and last season. Last year, he also became the first player to hit a hockey puck more than 100 mph and recorded the hardest shot in the NHL with a record 105.2 mph slap shot. He will defend his hardest-shot title during All-Star Week activities Jan. 20-22.

Iafrate, who has four goals and 21 assists, has been slowed by injury. He twisted his left knee in the last preseason game, suffered a partial shoulder separation in the first regular-season game and had just started to feel better when he sprained his right knee Dec. 21.