On Saturday in San Jose, 44 players will be split among four divisional teams in the 2019 NHL All-Star Game. These bite-sized teams will play something that doesn’t quite resemble a competitive game of hockey, with a 3-on-3 single-elimination tournament condensed into 10-minute halves.
Since 2016, the NHL has proceeded with this tinkered format that doesn’t quite get the pulses racing.
A lot of meaning has been lost with captains split among divisional teams. Alex Ovechkin was supposed to lead the Metropolitan Division as its captain, but the Washington Capitals’ superstar opted to sit out this year’s All-Star Game and accepted a one-game suspension to allow his body to heal for the season’s second half – though some believe part of the reason is his continued bitterness at the NHL for refusing to allow him to represent Russia at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
There was a time when the NHL had it right. The East vs. West format evoked a true best-on-best game. North America vs. The World didn’t quite accomplish that and the most recent drafted teams in 2015 led to a lopsided score of Team Toews beating Team Lidstrom, 17-12 and really… who can remember which All-Stars suited up for either side?
Keeping it simple was the key. Back in the early 1990s, Wayne Gretzky captained the Western Conference and Mark Messier captained the East. Back then, legends like Gretzky, Messier, Ray Bourque and Mario Lemieux wore the captain’s ‘C’ and a lot of esteem came with that privilege.
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Nowadays, the four captains for each division are decided by the fan vote. In 2016, it got to the point where fans used the previously totally open fan vote to point out how silly things had gotten by ushering five-goal career scorer John Scott into the game as Pacific Division captain. It all ended with a feel-good story. Teammates set up Scott for two goals, he won the MVP award and teammates lifted him onto their shoulders like Rudy.
A 6-foot-8, 260-pound enforcer got the chance to be the hero of the day – but a predetermined ballot followed in 2017 to prevent a repeat of fans making a mockery of the voting process.
Even though we live in an age when full games can be streamed at any time, I think the NHL All-Star could be improved by looking to the past. Let’s go back to East vs. West, let’s go back to best-on-best, distinguished captains leading their Conferences and a full three periods of play. The All-Star Game is meant to celebrate all that makes the sport great. A mini-tournament with 10-minute halves simply isn’t an accurate representation of the coolest game on ice.
It never should have gotten to the point where the NHL All-Star Game regressed into something that is so far removed from what makes the sport so entertaining to watch on any given regular season night.
Keep it simple. The game’s best showing their skills for 60 minutes is all the NHL needs its All-Star Game to be.