Brian Boyle emotional about first career All-Star selection

Brian Boyle on Thursday was named to his first career All-Star team as he will be replacing his injured teammate, Taylor Hall. The 33-year-old center was pretty emotional when talking about his selection following his New Jersey Devils’ 3-0 loss to the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.

First Boyle talked about how tough it is seeing Hall out before he discussed the honor.

"I'm very, very honored."

The #NJDevils are honored to have @BriBrows22 represent #JerseysTeam in Tampa! #NHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/PMZwhN1WRz

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) January 26, 2018

“We feel for him because he really should be representing us,” Boyle said of Hall. “But it’s an honor. I spoke with my wife about it, my dad. It’s pretty cool. I know a lot of stars kind of had to move around. It will be fun to go back to Tampa and see all those great players on the ice.”

Boyle also tried to balance the emotions of his personal honor with the recent struggles of his team.

“The past 24 hours have been a bit crazy. And it’s frustrating tonight. This has gone on too long. It’s a bad taste in our mouth for a few days.”

The Devils have only won 2 of their last 12 games and are on a four-game losing streak. Boyle has 17 points this season and is on pace to record the most points of his career.

Going back to Tampa will be a homecoming of sorts for Boyle, who played parts of three seasons for the Lightning. What really makes Boyle’s selection even more special is that he was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia on the first day of the Devils’ training camp.