Ek's RUMOR TIP> Trade Deadline is Coming Fast!You should FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER HERE to find out when I have posted a new blog AND get "Quick Hit Rumors" between blogs
I have heard all the arguments:
* The Game is for the sponsors.
* The Game is about the NHL making money.
* The Game is joke.
* The Game is an NHL convention.
* The Game is about television.
etc...
I have covered the recent All-Star Games as press in Dallas, Atlanta, and Montreal. I have thoroughly enjoyed each trip I took to those cities, not for the game, but rather the contacts and sources I can talk to in person with only a month or so to go before the Trade Deadline. I have enjoyed talking to the players, and meeting the rookies at the press brunch. It's a great time to get to know the guys. I have enjoyed wandering the big tents and seeing the "NHL Experience" the league sets up outside the arena.
I haven't enjoyed the games and skills competitions much....if at all.
I did do a project each year as I wondered through the crowds. I tried to find fans wearing all thirty NHL Jerseys and photograph them. I don't think many people realize how many folks travel to the All-Star Games.
Why does the NHL have an All-Star Game?
I remember at my first game I talked to NHL people and they all said, "The All-Star Game is important because it is the NHL's showcase on national American TV." It used to be frustrating to hear this because, while yes the Stars were playing, this was NOT the kind of hockey I would want to show the non-hockey fans out there. This was no showcase.
Fortunately, the Winter Classic has taken over that role. There is little question the NHL now views the Classic as it once did the All-Star Game. And that is great thing.
Why does the All-Star Game still exist?
The greatness of the Classic, has really killed all or any momentum the NHL All-Star Game had left...so in the past few years I have looked for reasons the game should even exist.
While I like Shanahan's "choosing sides" concept, it is not enough for this game to exist.
As for national TV, if anything it has become a buzzkill for the Classic.
I think the NHL would rather have the next big game National TV game be a Flyers/Rangers 3pm Saturday clash...
But I have found a reason...
In the past few years, wandering around and looking at the fans reactions to this live event, I have concluded this game exists for the kids. Yes the kids. And that is huge...and important. Kids, LOVE this event. Seeing Crosby and Ovechkin and all the best players together, even the anticipation of seeing them, is a great reason to keep this game alive. It matters on a certain level.
Television events like 24/7 are fantastic for adults, but not suitable for children...this All-Star game is a great place to take your kids. I am not talking about your everyday kid. I am talking your NHL junkie. The NHL kid who has the posters and the cards. The kid who has ten different NHL Jersey customized. The NHL kid who totally gets "The Guardian Project" comic which Stan Lee is putting together. All-Star Games are nirvana for those kinds of kids, and those kinds of kids will be the ones who will one day decide whether or not to plop down money for season tickets. But beyond the future financial stability of the NHL, these kids deserve this game to exist so they can get fired up to see players playing together on the same line who never have before.
But they are trying to kill that part too (aka:"The Best Players Willing to Go Game")
The travesty of teams calling the NHL and saying, "Don't pick our guys, he is a little banged up" really rubs me the wrong way. Everyone is a little banged up, but what's to keep this from spreading to other players next year. Players saying to their GMs, "Why aren't you more like Ken Holland and calling for me so I can miss the game and get a break."
And just like that, the All-Star Game just became "The Best Players Willing to Go" Game.
Aren't hockey players supposed to be above what NFL and NBA players are like? How much longer can we talk about how much more down-to-earth they all are?
So maybe we should kill it...
When players forget the meaning of this game, the games itself truly should be killed. I understand players wanting a break from the rigors of the NHL season, but I honestly can't imagine a player not wanting the honor of an invite to an All-Star Game.
We need to at least invite the best players, and if they are hurt, replace them.
It should matter to a guy he was named to 7 All-Star games because it matters on a hockey card a kid collects.
I know that sounds trite. But I believe that.
How about you?
Join the Discussion:
»