NHL’S all-stars put on scoring display
Right to the end it looked like it was going to be an entirely magical weekend for Daniel Alfredsson, that he would lead his team to victory in the National Hockey League allstar game and be named the most valuable player, almost as if it were pre-destined.
It almost happened, as his teammates kept feeding him the puck in the final few minutes, hoping that he’d get a hat trick.
But in the end, Zdeno Chara’s allstars beat Alfredsson’s squad 12-9 at Scotiabank Place and Marian Gaborik’s three goals and one assist topped Alfredsson’s two goals and one assist, so the most valuable player award went to a Slovak, not the host city’s favourite Swede.
It was a small blemish, though, on a fun afternoon.
As much as the weekend celebrated the NHL’S stars, it also celebrated Alfredsson and his 15-year career.
You could see it, said Senators and all-star teammate Jason Spezza, in the respect shown Alfredsson by his fellow stars, the way they kept trying to set up his third goal.
“Hockey’s a very respectful game, and guys really respect what Alfie has done in his career,” said Spezza. “This is an amazing weekend to be a part of, and it’s great to see the accolades.
“As a teammate, we appreciate him and we understand what he’s done in our locker-room, but for him to be on the national stage and to get the recognition he deserves, it’s something we really enjoyed seeing.”
The game was tied 6-6 after two periods before Chara’s team took it over in the third.
In addition to Gaborik, Joffrey Lupul had two goals for Team Chara, while Chara himself, Corey Perry, Marian Hossa, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Jarome Iginla and Patrick Kane had one each.
In addition to the pair from the captain, Alfredsson’s team received goals from Spezza, Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, John Tavares, Jason Pominville, Milan Michalek and Claude Giroux.
An emotionally spent Alfredsson said the weekend will rank high in the many memories he has from his career, but it felt surreal.
“You can never dream up anything like this,” he said.
“And you don’t really know how to embrace it, either. Tonight, after the kids go to bed, you can sit and relax, and I’m sure I’ll be dead tired.
“But (it’s difficult to take it all in) and realize that this is something that not everybody gets a chance to experience. I don’t know if I deserve it or not, but it’s definitely humbling.”
All three goalies on Team Chara — Tim Thomas, Carey Price, and Jimmy Howard — surrendered three goals each.
Team Alfredsson’s first two goalies — Henrik Lundqvist and Jonathan Quick — each gave up three, but the third, former Senator and present St. Louis goalie Brian Elliott, had luck that was just as bad as when he played here in an Ottawa uniform. He gave up six goals on 19 shots and took the loss.
But Elliott received a warm reception from Ottawa fans, which he appreciated.
“I wasn’t really expecting anything, but they were really nice, really supportive,” he said.
“It’s a little weird coming back here, but it was fun. We’ll be back here in about a week (Feb. 7) with different things on my mind.”
The beauty of the all-star game is that it gets you dreaming about a world without a salary cap, and what it would be like to have a line like Gaborik ($7.5 million US), Marian Hossa ($5.275 million) and Pavel Datsyuk ($6.7 million).
Hossa had a goal and two assists and Datsyuk had three assists to give that line a 10-point night. “Just pure talent, he’s got it all.” The combined total of 21 goals made the game the fourth highestscoring game in NHL history, and 30 of the 36 position players — 15 of the 18 on each team — had at least one point.
Thomas was credited with the win for the fourth straight year.