NHL all-star game: Five reasons why things could get interesting
Last year’s NHL all-star game featured a league-record 29 goals, prompting more grousing than usual about the game’s lack of competitiveness. But this year’s skills competition (Saturday, 7 p.m.) and game (Sunday, 5 p.m.) in Nashville have the potential to provide more entertainment value. Some storylines:
THREE-ON-THREE
In the continuing effort to turn the game into a competition again, the NHL, with the NHL Players’ Association’s blessing, is switching to a three-on-three format for the game (s).
Eleven players have been selected from each division, and those divisional teams will compete for a winner-take-all, $1-million prize.
The Central Division will play the Pacific Division in one 20-minute semifinal game, and the Metropolitan all-stars will play the Atlantic squad in the other. The winning conference in the skills competition gets to decide if it will play first or second in the semifinal. The winners of the semifinals will meet in the 20-minute championship game.
No one knows whether the new format and the money will inspire the players to treat the game as more than an exhibition but, at the very least, it should spice up the show.
JOHN SCOTT STORY
The game is worth watching to see how Pacific Division captain John Scott is received by fans and how he will perform in the three-on-three format.
Scott is a six-foot-eight tough guy whose selection to the team by fan balloting was launched as a joke because he was an unlikely choice. He was a fourth-line forward for the Arizona Coyotes who was a healthy scratch more often than he played. Scott has 11 points in 285 NHL games.
IT’S MUSIC CITY
A statement you often hear around the NHL is that we should root for the Nashville Predators because a Stanley Cup parade in Nashville would be a sight worth seeing.
Nashville is one of the favourite cities for players, fans and media. The arena is located downtown, on the same block with the best honky tonks and barbecue joints you will find on the NHL circuit. Tootsies Orchid Lounge is a legendary honky tonk where Hank Williams Jr., Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson and others crafted some of their country hits.
It’s also the place where NHL players go when they visit Nashville.
Likewise, the Predators are supported by the music industry. Barbara Mandrell has owned season tickets since the opening night of the franchise, and Vince Gill, who will sing the American anthem before the all-star game, has season tickets in the first row. Carrie Underwood is married to Nashville centre Mike Fisher.
WEBER’S CANNON
Say what you will about the skills contest, but everyone pays attention when players line up for the hardestshot competition.
There’s a league-wide romance with using a radar gun to determine the speed of a slap shot. The reigning champion happens to be Predators captain Shea Weber, he won the title with a blast of 108.5 m.p.h. His shot was just short of the league record of 108.8 set by Boston’s Zdeno Chara.
Asked to describe Weber’s velocity last year, Chicago Blackhawks centre Jonathan Toews said, “I’ve never driven that fast. It’s scary fast.”
STACKED DECK
Have you looked at the Central Division team? This is an all-star game, meaning every team is rich in talent. But the Central Division includes Patrick Kane (Chicago), plus Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin (Dallas), Vladimir Tarasenko (St. Louis) and Matt Duchene (Colorado).
Kane, Benn and Seguin are the league’s top three point producers. The six Central forwards have combined for 148 goals.
Weber and Byfuglien give the Central two top guns on defence, and Roman Josi (Nashville) has offensive flair as well. Devan Dubnyk (Minnesota) and Pekka Rinne (Nashville) are the goalies. It’s hard not to view the Central Division as the team to beat.