Today on Versus.com's
Daily Drop I present my idea for improving the NHL All-Star Game. I would like to see the NHL experiment for a year or two with going back to the game's original arrangement: Have the defending Stanley Cup champions oppose a team of All-Stars on home ice.
The blog goes into detail about the reasons why I think this format could at least work better than the current setup, East vs. West or World Team vs. North American team. It also addresses some of the potential limitations of the idea.
Let's look at it from a Flyers standpoint. If the team is fortunate enough to win the Stanley Cup this year, I think it would be really cool to automatically have the ASG in Philly in 2012.
Even with the inevitable roster turnover from the end of one season to the All-Star Break of the next season, there would be a pride factor involved. The Flyers would not want to be embarrassed on their home ice, and the game would be played with a little more focus on defense, physicality and competition. In addition, the partisanship of the crowd would come to the forefront not only during the pre-game introductions but during the game itself.
There would also be a lot more pressure on potential All-Star team representatives to accept their invitations to the game and not make half-baked excuses to avoid the game. First of all, with only one team's game roster to fill, selections would be limited to the best of the best. Being chosen would be a bigger deal, and you can be sure any non-injured player who decided to skip the game would hear more about it than they do in passing on the current game.
Especially if the game were in the Flyers' home barn next year, there'd be all sorts of "he must have come down with the Philly flu" accusations levied at any player who decided to pass on the game. Among those non-Flyers players in the game for the other side, most would get the typical Philadelphia welcome. A player such as (a concussion-free) Sidney Crosby would get booed every time he touches the puck, and the competitive juices would be more likely to be flowing on the opposing side.
Yes, I know that the All-Star Game (like the Stanley Cup Final) is a "league" event that is largely outside the control of the host team. There would be a higher-than-usual percentage of tickets that go to partisans of other teams, and significant blocks to league sponsors and stakeholders. Even so, if the game were in Philadelphia next year to see the Flyers play an All-Star team, the largest group by far would still be comprised of Flyers denizens. Perhaps a set number of All-Star Game tickets could be released early as part of an incentive to buy season tickets, and a large percentage of the public sale tickets would be bought by Flyers fans.
Sarcasm alert: If the ASG were held in Philadelphia next year, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter would have to make other weekend plans with their friends. But I don't think they'd mind -- they'd know far in advance and they wouldn't feel nearly as inconvenienced as they would by the possibility of being selected as replacement players for this year's game in Carolina.
Yes, I'm only kidding. In reality, I can scarcely blame Richards, Carter and every other player who begged off from this year's ASG. The game is usually awful and, with the season being so long, the time off is welcomed by those who don't go.
But if there's something to get a little more incentive to win involved -- and being part of a fantasy hockey-like draft by the ASG team captains doesn't qualify -- I think there'd be a change in attitude, even though the ASG will still just be a glorified exhibition game.
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Tomorrow's Meltzer's Musings installment will look at the junior and European prospects in the Flyers system.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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