Okay everybody brace yourselves. I'm about to make a post about hockey. Before I begin I want you to keep in mind that hockey is not one of my closest passions, but I have a growing amount of respect for the sport, and especially the NHL. To me, the NHL is a league that seems to really have hit its stride at being of high quality and fair to its fans since returning from a lockout a few years ago.
What this post is about though, is the NHL All-Star Game tonight and its new format. Honestly, I wish the NHL would have marketed this game a lot better because the new way of playing the game to me, is really cool and I think a lot of people should at least known about it even if they ended up choosing not to watch it in the end. For those that don't know, instead of having the fans vote for the Eastern Conference and Western Conference All-Stars like a normal pro league would and then making All-Star rosters from that, the NHL decided the fans would vote in order to create a pool of about 40 players, regardless of conference that would be deemed All-Stars, in tandem with choices made my the Hockey Operations Department of the NHL. From there, those 40 or so players would vote on a team captain, and the 2 players with the most votes would be deemed captains of the 2 teams. From there, the 2 team captains pick the players for their team, much like an old-school pick up game.
I think this was a brilliant idea. It created many avenues for conversation about the game. Who would be the captains? What kind of strategy should they use to pick their teams? Die-hard hockey fans all over were making their own mock drafts trying to figure out how the All-Star teams would shake out once Nicklas Lidstrom and Eric Staal were named captains. I think there's the possibility of capturing the attention of the ever growing fantasy sport population's interest in this game as well. Like I said, it makes for a really cool idea, and creates a mashup of players you truly would never otherwise be able to see. It really is a fun fantasy game, and that's what All-Star games should be. Granted, there were some stipulations to the rules. Teams needed 3 goalies and 6 defensemen, and both positions had to have their spots filled by a certain pick in the draft, but such structure probably just took the chaos and made it organized chaos, which is even better.
A couple cool odds and ends that came out of the All-Star game draft are that Team Captain Eric Staal made his brother, Marc sweat it out a while before being chosen to his team (he could have just been sent home). Staal also plays for Carolina, where the game is being held, a very nice gesture for the hometown player, not to mention a veteran. He went on to pick 2 of his own teammates as well, to really provide something for the hometown fans to cheer for. Also, in an interesting turn of events identical twins Henrik and Daniel Sedin, who have practically never played against each other ever, will be playing on opposite teams tonight, in what could be a very captivating split for hockey fans. Phil Kessel of the Toronto Maple Leafs is Mr. Irrelevant for this year's draft, and you heard it here first, he's going to score the game winner.
One more thing I'd like to say about this is that I'd love to see this tried in other sports, particularly the NBA. How cool would that be to have a pool of NBA players that were voted on by the fans and they are the All-Stars, then have them vote on 2 captains, and from there they pick the teams, or even better, have them shoot for teams at the free throw line (once again, a la a pick up game). Granted, we might be waiting a while if we shoot for teams and both Dwight Howard and Shaq are in the game, but once the game starts I think it would be really cool. Plus, the fact the NBA's personalities are more known and more expressive should really make for some good television. I'd like to see Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, and Carmelo Anthony together on the same floor as a team (outside of a ridiculous superteam scenario). It may never happen, someone would probably get their feather's ruffled for not getting picked, meaning the players union wouldn't like it, but I think it would be fun to watch. I guess I can dream.
What's the baseline?
The new NHL All-Star game format is a really innovative idea that brings a new dimension to All-Star games everywhere. It appeals to a very informal pick up game type view of things and creates scenarios we would otherwise never see. I wish the NBA would adopt a similar All-Star game, if only just once. Its an All-Star game, it should be light and fun, and this format is. The only shame is that the Versus Network has the TV deal with the NHL, meaning not that many people are going to be even able to see this game, nor were they able to see the draft. Disappointing.
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