I couldn't really think of a good title for this story and I think that is because I had a few different thoughts on what to write about ... the snubbed and the undeserving, those from the Avalanche that are having All-Star type seasons, and the problems with the game in general to name a few ... but in the end I'm just going to have one writing with elements of all of them combined.
*******
The NHL All-Star game and all the festivities included in that weekend is coming up this weekend, however I along with most hockey fans can't get too excited about this fact. Yes, many of us will probably still watch it but there are so many reasons why true hockey fans just aren't pleased with it that getting excited about it is nearly impossible.
Why have it in the middle of the season? That seems inherently wrong ... guys with fast starts become all-stars giving no weight to what they do the other half of the season. Sometimes those players continue to play at that level and sometimes it is just that, a hot start. But when would you play it? The season is already 82 games long before the playoffs and there are only a couple of months before the next grueling season starts. If you have it at the end of the season you'll have players that have just finished and players that haven't played in a couple months since the playoffs began ... but either way you're not far from the next season starting and that little rest they can get is important.
Another problem with having it in the middle of the season is that you're going to have guys not playing to nurse minor injuries, something that could happen at the end of the season as well but certainly happens in the regular season. A tweaked knee, sprained wrist ... whatever it is what better time to take a week off to rest it than the All-Star break. You see it every year where not only serious injuries but not so serious injuries are reasons to skip the game. Heck, you even saw a couple of Red Wings do it just for rest a couple years ago and yes they got fined but they still chose not to go. This year there are six players chosen to participate that won't be there and have had replacements named thus far.
Who goes is another problem. First the fan voting is a joke. Every fan can vote as much as they want basically and while a number of stars do get the votes you'll also see some of the best in the game below "fan favorites" from the bigger markets because of the voting. When a fourth line agitator from New York can get more votes than a point per game player just because of location and market, is it really the "all-stars" getting the votes??? Then there is the whole problem of "each team" having representatives. Each year players get left off that make no sense at all and there are others that make it that shouldn't. Take Zetterberg not being on the list and Elias being there as examples of this from this year's game. It also seems to be a bit of an "old boys club" at times with a tendency that if you have made it in years past your odds of making it again increase even if your performance isn't as good as someone that hasn't made it. Too many problems with how the players are selected ... and while I commend the league for trying to shake it up by naming captains and letting them pick their teams (an idea I like), they still need to improve the selection process as part of fixing the wrongs of the all-star game.
Another problem with the game itself is that it isn't as exciting as "real" hockey. There isn't hitting, there isn't defense really with teams just up and down the ice ... the intensity isn't there. Basically it's like they get on the ice and play a game of non-contact beer league hockey. It's like getting tacos but not getting the meat. You get the toppings but not what makes it what it is. The skills competition while interesting from the point that you get to find out who is the fastest or has the hardest shot is hardly exciting either.
All in all I'll still be watching as I am a hockey fan, but the game and the weekend as a whole need to be re-invented. I don't have the answers for what needs done to fix it, and if I did I would mention them here of course, but someone needs to fix it. For now though good luck to all participating. I'll be rooting for the "home team" boys Stastny, Duchene, and Shattenkirk and hope to see one of them take home team MVP honors...
No comments:
Post a Comment