LOS ANGELES -- Eric Daze had two goals, an assist and was selected MVP in his first NHL All-Star game Saturday.

Daze, a 26-year-old left wing for the Chicago Blackhawks, received the honor despite playing for the losing team. The World's Teemu Selanne was the last MVP from a losing team in 1998.

The World All-Stars beat their North American counterparts 8-5, the World team's second victory in three years.

"I was really surprised because we lost the game, but I'll take it," said Daze, who became the first Chicago player to win MVP honors since Bobby Hull won in 1970 and '71.

Most surprising, however, was the cut Daze received near his right eye in a game that isn't known for drawing blood. He received six stitches.

"The first shift, my first game, it's unbelievable I got cut," he said. "I was in front of the net battling for the puck and I got an elbow."

As MVP, Daze earned a crystal sculpture and a new truck.

Former Chicago teammate Chris Chelios said Daze has matured in his seventh full NHL season.

"He's gotten an opportunity that he didn't have when I was playing with him, and he's taken advantage of it," Chelios said. "He's always been a skill player, and he's turned into the type of player that they thought he would."

Bowman one-ups Quinn
Detroit's Scotty Bowman is one-up on Toronto's Pat Quinn in their All-Star coaching rivalry.

Bowman's World team beat Quinn's North America All-Stars 8-5 Saturday in their third meeting as opposing All-Star coaches.

Bowman also coached the World team in a 9-4 win against Quinn in the 2000 game in Toronto.

Bowman already holds the record for coaching the most All-Star games at 13, starting in 1969, and has a 7-5-1 record.

"I've been here before and I know the first games were very competitive when I started," he said. "I was in the West Division. The first two games that we played in '69 and '70 were very competitive. The West Division wanted to show that they were for real, they were deserving of playing in the NHL."

Quinn's only win against Bowman came in 1981 at the Forum in Inglewood, where his Campbell Conference team beat Bowman's Wales Conference team 4-1.

The Campbell team featured Hall of Famers Mike Bossy, Mike Gartner, Wayne Gretzky and Denis Potvin.

The Wales team included the vaunted Triple Crown line of Dave Taylor, Marcel Dionne and Charlie Simmer of the Los Angeles Kings, along with a promising Boston Bruins defenseman making his first All-Star appearance, Ray Bourque.

Lemieux ties Gretzky
Pittsburgh's Mario Lemieux scored a goal in the second period to tie Wayne Gretzky's All-Star record of 13.

Lemieux, 36, increased his All-Star point total to 23, two shy of Gretzky's record of 25.

"I guess the more you play these games you have a chance to beat some of the records," he said.

He is easing himself back into full-time action after missing 24 games with a hip injury. He returned to action Jan. 12.

"It's been a struggle. Feeling good some days, not so good some other days. I guess that comes with age," Lemieux said, smiling.

Check this
First, North America's Eric Daze was bloodied with a cut near his right eye.

Then teammate Jeremy Roenick checked World All-Star Alexei Zhitnik hard into the boards in the first period.

To top things off, North American teammates Chris Chelios of Detroit and Rob Blake of Colorado, along with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, were booed heartily.

Pretty rough stuff for a game that is supposed to bloodless and cheery.

Chelios couldn't see Roenick's check from his seat on the bench.

"I just heard the noise and saw Zhitnik picking himself up," he said. "He does it every year. He says he's going to hit someone and he does it. He tried to get the crowd into it. It was funny."

All-Stars to Olympic stars
Saturday's game offered a preview of the Winter Olympics, beginning Friday in Salt Lake City.

Twenty-eight NHL players in the All-Star game will represent six countries that have already qualified for the final round of the Olympic hockey tournament.

Canada had the most All-Stars and most Olympians, including Colorado's Rob Blake, Pittsburgh's Lemieux and Detroit's Brendan Shanahan.

Russia had five, including goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin. The Czech Republic, United States and Sweden had four players each, while Finland had two.

Stars shine
What's an All-Star game in Los Angeles without some star power?

Jewel sang an a capella version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the game, then performed her current single "Standing Still" during the second intermission.

The first intermission spotlighted John Ondrasik and his Grammy-nominated band Five for Fighting performing their hit "Superman (It's Not Easy)." The group's name was inspired by Ondrasik's love of hockey.

Celebrities turned up in the crowd at Staples Center, including actors Cuba Gooding Jr., Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, Canadian Matthew Perry, comedian Will Ferrell, writer-producer David E. Kelley, game show hosts Pat Sajak and Alex Trebek and Suger Ray singer Mark McGrath.

In a hockey game next door at the Convention Center, a team from the New York City Police Department defeated their Los Angeles counterparts 6-3.