Julie and I are at the Montreal Airport and will be doing a special Podcast with thoughts on the All-Star Weekend and second half of the season...I will also be addressing some rumours that have come up including Bobby Ryan to Buffalo, Vinny Lecavalier and more on Jay Bouwmeester.
Listen here or call in...
I will be updating this blog following the Podcast.
Alex Ovechkin is "God's gift to Hockey." Quite Seriously.
Remembering three All-Star games ago, in Dallas, it was all about Sid the Kid. After these last two games, all that Sid the Kid talk back then feels...Well childish. Crosby has missed two All-Star Games now, and while that really feels like no big deal, last night I went to the kids outside the Bell Centre to find out.
I did a very informal survey of 25 kids who looked to me to be under 12. I asked them one simple question. The kind of question kids ask each other...
"So who is better: Crosby or Ovechkin?"
It was our own Dan Tolensky who told me that his theory was that the All-Star game was for The Sponsors and The Kids. He is dead-on with that statement. For all of the complaining that we adults do about this game and its lack of any intensity, the kids freak out over it. I was watching them in the stands over the two days. They are star struck. They love it.
So, I figured this is Montreal Canada. Surely this is Crosby Country.
Guess again.
Of the 22 Canadian boys and 3 Canadian girls surveyed..
Ovechkin 17
Crosby 8
Yes, among the kids at least Ovechkin is King.
Now you could argue that kids are very much "what have you done for me lately beings" and they just saw him in the silly hat and all, but to be honest I think the adults as well may be tending this way. You tell me.
I really do think that it Ovechkin has made the effort to really play to the room. He knows that this is fun and truly takes life the way a man who makes a bazillion dollars to have fun should take life. The biggest reaction from the crowd last night in the first two periods came after the big screen flashed up two hot blonds who stood up and danced to the music going on during the break and then cut to Ovechkin who was looking at the screen and saying "ooooh." Caught, Alex looked away and laughed embarrassed. It was a pure and real moment.
I think that this All-Star Game in Montreal could be remembered as the All-Star game where the Russians taught us how to have some fun and take things lightly. That is an ironic statement for those of us who grew up around the Communist RED ARMY teams and were sold the Cold War concept of the "I WILL BREAK YOU" Russian.
Frankly the current Russians in the NHL are just goofy. In a good way. They lack the pretense and truly appear to be taking it in.
There was a really interesting juxtaposition last night. After Kovalev sat on the podium with his kid just beaming about how much fun he had and how important this weekend was to his repertoire, I saw Sidney Crosby walk by me with his entourage in his suit looking dead serious.
Don't get me wrong. I am not dissing Sid. It wasn't his fault that he was hurt the past two years and I have watched him as a player go through walls to win. He is amazing and all...
I just feel that Ovechkin may have taken over and may in the end, despite his accent, be the guy who leads the NHL to another level of sorts.
What do you think?
As for a few other Extra-Curricular game rumours. There of course will be no All-Star Game next year as we all head for the Olympics in Vancouver but in 2011 the word is that Phoenix, who lost the game due to the lockout, will host the game. (Won't need our great gloves there!) If Phoenix for some reason can't host the game it will be in Carolina or Chicago.
Also, as first reported back in September on this site by Howard Berger, what was once called "The Canada Cup" will return after next season, just prior to the start of the 2011-2012 season. "The World Cup of Hockey," which many believe will take the place of our Olympics needs to see the best face each other, will be played in North America and Europe.
As for NHLers at the Olympics past Vancouver. It is not dead yet. The 2014 games are in Russia and expect an all-out war as the Russians are already talking to their players in the NHL and begging them to come and play in Russia in 2014.
More to come, including rumours in a bit. I am still in Montreal today, and per your suggestions, Julie and I are heading to Schwartz's for lunch!
I will update after lunch..
from Last night...
Talking to sources tonight at the game and back in Edmonton has made 100% confident in the statement that the two teams have never discussed Vinny and that there is nothing at all to the rumor making the rounds that Vinny being traded is somehow imminent.
more on this to come..
THE LIVE FEED BOX BELOW GOES LIVE AT RANDOM TIMES
There are many of you who have been ripping on the All-Star Weekend. I get it. Believe me I do, but allow me to show you the other side.
The problems with this "show" and that is exactly what it is, is that we have all this greatness in one place and the hockey is terrible. To those who love the game for the game it is hard to NOT look upon this as a travesty.
And while I do think the NHL needs to keep trying to enhance the hockey elements, I am not sure that such enhancements are possible. I really am not.
The skills competition was fine. You know who loves the skills competition? The kids. I looked around and the kids think it is an absolute blast. And having kids myself I get why they do. It is simple. It is little games. It is winners and losers.
The freestyle breakaway contest was much better. Again, you need to open your mind. What I love about it is the fact that it shows some personality and again, thinking of the children, it encourages creativity and shows that hockey can be fun. For years now a friend of mine who coaches youth hockey has told me that he believed that there should be more emphasis on just letting kids create on the ice. So much of the "defense first," "always use the boards when clearing," "play it safe" kind of coaching has created an army of very few special players.
Last year in this contest there was a huge disconnect as hockey players by their nature are NOT show boaters. Last year they were trying to be creative without upstaging. That aspect of their nature is a GOOD thing. That is why these players are the best in the world to be around. They are good guys. This year, thanks in a large part to Ovechkin, they are realizing that creativity and show can be a good time.
The fact is the Skills competition has been buried by something else. At least to me, the shootout killed the skills competition. It used to be the expression "The Penalty Shot is the most exciting play in hockey" was completely true. That was why I liked the skills competition. Because we got to see star players versus star goalies one on one. Now we see dozens of penalty shots a week. That being said, since we can't play until someone wins, I actually like the purpose the shootout serves, and I do believe that the shootout has evolved from Gimmicky into a real true part of the game with strategies and again, creativity.
All of that for what it is this event is one you have to attend to truly understand. This is a live event that captures a city's imagination. If you were here, you would see that all the stuff surrounding the games is fantastic. The NHL does an incredible job. Truly awesome.
First, I need to throw out quick props to Frank Brown, John Dellapina, Mark Fischel, Lindsey Morris, Julie Young and so many others that make this event so great to cover. And a major shout out for the BEST SWAG EVER this year. The warm hat and gloves as seen in the video below. Right before I stepped into the media trailer to get my creds I was saying how desperately I needed to step up my hats and gloves for this kind of cold and VOILA!
The All-Star Weekend is an amazing weekend to attend and the Game is just an excuse for a League and a city to celebrate the sport we love. That is it.
The City of Montreal does this better than any city I have ever seen. The fans here love the game as deeply as they know the game. The crowd inside and outside the Bell Center is so impassioned it is impossible not to get swept up into it. Some moments last night, like Vinny's introduction where you could feel an amazing 1/10 of the passion this man would have if he were to ever wear the C and the H. The reaction to Chara, the literal enemy in Boston garb, addressing the crowd and getting cheers for his admiration of them.
It is all very intense to be around. It is a weekend of parties.
I know it doesn't translate to those of you not here, so I hardly blame anyone who doesn't like this weekend. You are only seeing the games. That is it.
Below, I will put my live stream again today as Julie, Eric Engels, Steve Hindel, and I walk you through the city and try to give you "another all-star game." One that is about celebration and friendship
We will be all around the arena and in the Jamboree tent across the way until 3pm when we will have what in the internet world we call a Hockeybuzz "meet up" at 3 Brasseurs on McGill College and St. Catherine.'
Hope to see many of you there!
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