As the NHL ramps up for its 60th All-Star Game just ten days from now at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, the game’s detractors have been crawling out of the woodwork by the score. They’ve been singing the same refrain for a while now, and it’s one that we’ve all become familiar with. The game is nothing more than a cash-grab for the league. Many players would rather skip the game (and are thus penalized by the league if they do), while those that do make an appearance give no more than a token effort to glide around the ice. The player selection is nothing but snubs and flubs. The game itself can be improved in myriad ways. The jerseys are abhorrently ugly. The format is tired. The fans are tired…
Has everybody forgotten what the NHL All-Star Game is all about? Have hockey fans in North America become so jaded that they can no longer see the silver lining, let alone the pure joy that the All-Star Game can deliver?
A Message to the NHL All-Star Game Detractors
Of course the All-Star Game makes money, by its very nature of being a mid-season exhibition contest it’s designed to – but why is that a bad thing? At the same time people are hollering for more revenue so that the salary cap can increase and their own favorite team can squeeze in that one extra piece that puts them over the top. How else is revenue supposed to grow, if not for special events like the All-Star game?
Before I traverse too far down that line, look at the flip side. If the NHL really, REALLY wanted to exploit the game to get as much money as they can, wouldn’t they do what they’ve done with the Winter Classic and put it into markets that they know will bring in real cash? Stop and think for a minute…there’s a reason why we’ve only seen one All-Star Game in Toronto since 1968, one in New York since 1973, and only two in Montreal since 1975. The NHL could go back to the well to these cities that they know are going to bring in boatloads of cash again and again, yet they don’t.
The reason is simple, look at some of the teams that have received All-Star games over the last few decades. San Jose in 1997. Tampa Bay in 1999. Minnesota in 2004. Atlanta in 2008. Carolina in 2011. Ottawa in 2012. Columbus this year and Nashville next year (not to mention a game in 2006 that would have gone to the Coyotes had it not been cancelled for the Olympics).
They’re all teams that were either recently added to the league, needed help establishing a stronger fanbase, or were due to get some recognition from the league. Whichever way, the intention is the same: to grow and strengthen a team’s standing in its market and to give a franchise a place in the spotlight (I’m sorry, the draft simply doesn’t serve this purpose).
So while yes, the NHL does indeed make a good deal of cash off the All-Star Game, it seems evident that the league’s intention is to help some of its teams as much, if not more, than to serve its own greedy interests. Yes, stronger individual franchises make the league as a whole stronger, but nobody could argue against that.
As for players not giving their all during the game itself, can you really blame them? And does it matter?
Sure, the All-Star Game is essentially meaningless, and I have zero qualms about players wanting to save themselves for games with their club teams, and the pursuit of the Stanley Cup. However, when it comes to the All-Star Game, that’s really secondary to the experience of just seeing these players on the ice.
If you can, if your love of the game hasn’t become so cynical and hardened by years of lock-outs, flailing teams, and the ever-constant pursuit of money, look at the unique spectacle of pure hockey joy that the All-Star game, and only the All-Star game can provide.
Take the 1997 game in San Jose for example. Consider a team with Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mark Messier, Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey and Dominik Hasek on one side versus a team with Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Teemu Selanne, Chris Chelios, Al MacInnis and Patrick Roy on the other (that’s not even to mention the plethora of other Hall-of-Famers in that game, like Pavel Bure, Brenden Shanahan, Adam Oates, Eric Lindros, Mats Sundin, Scott Stevens, Martin Brodeur and more).
This year, we could see the likes of Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Alex Ovechkin, Duncan Keith, Shea Weber and Roberto Luongo all on the ice together against a team of Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane, Phil Kessel, Drew Doughty, Ryan Suter and Carey Price.
Who doesn’t want to see what these stars could do if removed from the yoke of “two-way responsibility” and “the system?” Isn’t a game featuring all these amazing players every hockey fan’s dream? Who cares if they’re not hitting each other or or back-checking or driving to the net with the same determination that they otherwise would be?
If anything, witnessing the opposite for a change is an absolute treat! Let’s relish the opportunity to see what these players can do if given some time and space, playing alongside their peers, who happen to be the most skilled and talented in the world.
Sometimes, as battle-tested hockey fans, we can forget the simple joy of seeing all the greats gathered together to play a game of shinny.
Finally, lest we forget that the All-Star Game is a stage for the NHL to showcase its stars to not only the hardcore fans, but also the casuals in a way that the Winter Classic (or any other outdoor game) simply cannot. Plus, the skills competition (and, to a lesser extent, the game itself) provides one of the few opportunities to see these players’ personalities, something fans have been craving forever, and something that can only serve to help grow the game.
Can the format use a shake-up? Sure, I guess so, but that wouldn’t have much of an affect on the fundamental nature of the game itself. Could the selection process stand to improve? Perhaps, but giving veterans like Mark Giordano and Radim Vrbata or youngsters like Justin Faulk an opportunity to participate in the game is a classy move. P.K. Subban and Henrik Lundqvist will have other opportunities to play in the All-Star Game again, I assure you. Does the game need to be more intense? No, not if you want your star players to be healthy for the rest of the regular season; you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
Learn to accept the All-Star game for what it is: a celebration of hockey and a chance to see some of the NHL’s greatest stars having fun playing the game we all know and love.
The jerseys, however, are inexcusable.
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