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Godfather
01-14-2012, 06:30 PM
BY PATRICK HOFFMAN

While the National Hockey League is fond of tradition and doing everything it can to preserve it, one longstanding tradition that may have no actual value is that of the annual NHL All-Star Game.

The NHL All-Star Game first came into existence during the 1947-48 season. Prior to that season, it was not called an all-star game but, instead, was known as a benefit game.

Fast-forward more than 60 seasons later, and the contest is still around. With that said, the matchup is not what it used to be. It has become simply a promotional and marketing tool for the NHL.

For starters, fans are much more involved when it comes to picking the all-star starters. This season, the All-Star Game is being played in Ottawa, and as such, Senators fans stuffed the ballot boxes and voted for their favourite players.

What did this result in? Well, it led to Sens forwards Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek and defenseman Erik Karlsson all being voted as starters to this year’s event.

While these players certainly have the statistics to belong in the game, there were others players in the league who could be considered as far more deserving to be an All-Star starter. We are talking about players such as Henrik Sedin (Vancouver Canucks), Phil Kessel (Toronto Maple Leafs), Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers), Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning), and a slew of others.

This is the main reason why fans should not be allowed to vote the starters. The starters should be six players who are the best at their position. These players would be guys who are on or close to the top on the leaderboard for goals, assists, points, goals-against average, save percentage, shutouts, and wins.

Secondly, why did the league have to get rid of the Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference format? These games always had a certain intrigue as each conference had the chance to show who had the better players.

Now, the NHL picks two captains, and the two captains get to choose their teams. While it was an interesting made-for-television event last season, this bit of theatre certainly did not add any value to the game itself.

Perhaps worst of all, a netminder often gets hurt in the skills exhibition. Back in 2000 at the NHL Skills Competition at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre, it is known that former New York Rangers’ franchise goaltender Mike Richter injured his groin. He was never the same that season and eventually took himself out of the lineup in late March because of that injury.

The same thing happened at the 2007-08 NHL All-Star game in Atlanta. New York Islanders’ fragile goaltender Rick DiPietro was having a terrific season until he injured his hip against then Minnesota Wild shooter Marian Gaborik on a breakaway.

While the NHL All-Star Game is a great way to market the sport and its stars, it is tough to find any other value in the annual event

Joebob034
01-14-2012, 08:18 PM
It's the same reason the Pro Bowl sucks, the players go at about 50% intensity.