What a yawner - allstar game

[Kreskin]

Why even bother holding this game? Can't take a slapshot, no hitting..no one skates or shoots. What's the point?

They should sprinkle some oldtimers into the game. Any ex NHL player under 75 years old can play at that pace. At least it would interesting.

 

[bill barilko]

It's not serious hockey just entertainment-you didn't know that?

Because even Kids know that and they love it for what it is-just like the skills competition.

 

[Chiliagon]

it's an All-Star game, means nothing.

 

[talloola]

I enjoy the all-star week end, it's not a yawner unless you are expecting something other than
what it is meant to be.

If you were a general manager would you want your players going to an all-star game and body checking
and blocking slap shots, and the goalies being targets of 'a shay webber shot', NEVER.
Those players have to come back and pick up where they left off and play on their teams.

This happens every year, the same whining and complaining. The week-end, including the game is not
for showing TV fans some competetive game at all, it is showcasing the best players, and it is for
the players to have a FUN time with each other. They get autographs from each other, and for their
kids, lots of the players have their kids there, and all of the people of raleigh, n. carolina, have a chance
to come out and have fun, get autographs, watch the skills and the game, see and purchase souveniers,
all star sweaters etc.

Come on everyone get it together, see it for what it is, 'an open house' for the NHL, and break in the
action, a gettogether, a smoozefest, and if you accept it for what it is, you can enjoy it, if you can't
handle that, then don't watch.

It is arrogant of the TV fan to expect those teams to satisfy your need to see them bash each other
all over the place, and risk injury, you can see that all season.
I enjoyed all of it.

 

[Kreskin]

What was showcased. The unwritten rules are:

No hitting
no skating
no shooting
No slapshots
Only attempt to score once inside the crease
No backchecking
No defense

It would be a helluva lot more fun to watch if they let Gretzky and a few 'oldtimers' play, since it isn't competitive hockey.

 

[Just the Facts]

Haven't watched an all star game in must be 10 years for just that reason. It's a spectacle for the kids, nothing more.

 

[talloola]

What was showcased. The unwritten rules are:

No hitting
no skating
no shooting
No slapshots
Only attempt to score once inside the crease
No backchecking
No defense

It would be a helluva lot more fun to watch if they let Gretzky and a few 'oldtimers' play, since it isn't competitive hockey.

I like it the way it is, I don't want or expect something else, I'm not expecting them to satisfy my
competetive hockey nature, I put that away during the all star game.

They do change the format from time to time, and that is good, it is just for 'fun', so they can
change it up any way they want to keep it from becoming too programmed.

The players who are there are more competetive than you will ever be, and they can put it away to have
'fun'for a couple of days, mix with players they usually try to beat every time they meet them, players
they battle for one long season, then into play offs for the cup.
It's a 'break', why can't you and many others who say the same boring stuff every year, 'get that', and
adjust your thinking, the same as all of those players can.

I enjoyed the game, know everyone of those players from all of their teams, and it's neat to see them
all split up playing with and against different players.

It would be a yawner if they had gretzky and old players out there playing, the kids wouldn't know
who they are, they have no connection to anything anymore, just a memory in 'our' heads, not the
kids.

most of those things on your list above are wrong. you could see that each team
wanted to make sure the score did not get lopsided, you could see the backchecking
in the last period, lots of shots came from outside the crease, the defense got
better for each team when they wanted to catch up, hence the score very close.
The game became competetive within the 'no bodychecking', no slapshot decisions,
and please don't tell me that you think that is 'really' how they should play an
all-star game, really, give your head a shake, do you want ryan kesler to come
home with a separated shoulder, or a concussion.

It's NOT about US.

'yawning' and being 'bored' is in the mind of the viewer, but has nothing to do with what is going on,
it is a decision one makes because they can't understand what they are looking at, and seem to think it should be the way 'they' want it, and don't give a hoot about
the kids at all, or the 'spirit' of the event.

One dad phoned into team 1040, (yes they spout the same stuff every year too), and
asked them to shut up and stop being negative about the all star game, because his
kids are so excited about it and he doesn't want them to hear people on the radio
talking like that.

 

[Kreskin]

You already said it's not a competitive game and isn't intended to be so perhaps my point isn't a complaint but to point out the obvious and see if they can sell it to more people than a few rednecks in the south. Like you said, they tinker with the format every few years. They've done the NA vs Europe format, this pond hockey draft, east-west etc. Change isn't a new thing in hockey or an allstar game. They all know the game itself is a complete dud and are looking for ways to refresh it. And since it's touch (well it isn't even that, there is no touching) they could try something new again. I'd love to see guys like Patrick Roy, Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman play pond hockey with them. The game is a joke anyway so why pretend it's serious..have some fun with it.

 

[bill barilko]

I liked the goalie race-call me a kid but I thought it was good for a laugh.

 

[talloola]

You already said it's not a competitive game and isn't intended to be so perhaps my point isn't a complaint but to point out the obvious and see if they can sell it to more people than a few rednecks in the south. Like you said, they tinker with the format every few years. They've done the NA vs Europe format, this pond hockey draft, east-west etc. Change isn't a new thing in hockey or an allstar game. They all know the game itself is a complete dud and are looking for ways to refresh it. And since it's touch (well it isn't even that, there is no touching) they could try something new again. I'd love to see guys like Patrick Roy, Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman play pond hockey with them. The game is a joke anyway so why pretend it's serious..have some fun with it.

again, it's only your opinion that it is a joke, or that it is a dud, you guys all believe that, but
none of this is being done FOR YOU, and your opinion comes from many many older guys, who
can't adjust to the change, from a league game to a fun game, and enjoy that couple of days, and
accept it for what it is.

ask the kids if the game is a dud.

ask the players if they think it is a dud. they are tickled pink to smooze with each other for the
week end, exchange stories and know each other as friends instead of opposition.

 

[Kreskin]

Well I can't watch much of it and I had two 9 year olds in the house who didn't give it a look. Just who is it they are playing this for? For the older ladies? Themselves? To have a break?

I would put money on the game doubling viewership if they included some recent retired players. Even a couple per side. And/Or if they included some top junior prospects. The juniors would at least force some guys to skate, and since it's touch free and defense free pond hockey they would be competitive.

 

[talloola]

Well I can't watch much of it and I had two 9 year olds in the house who didn't give it a look. Just who is it they are playing this for? For the older ladies? Themselves? To have a break?

I would put money on the game doubling viewership if they included some recent retired players. Even a couple per side. And/Or if they included some top junior prospects. The juniors would at least force some guys to skate, and since it's touch free and defense free pond hockey they would be competitive.

The guys don't have to be forced to skate, they are doing what they want to do. The rookies they have
brought along are better than any junior who would be there, and it is a falacy to think a junior would
force them to do anything, they would be in such awe of those players they would probably pee their pants.

I don't think they care about doubling the viewership, you just don't seem to get it, it is about
'where' it is being played and what goes on 'live' during that time, the tv viewership is what it is,
and as long as many have the opinion that the game should rival some competetive hitting game, your
kind will always complain.

I wonder why you watch it.

 

[Kreskin]

The guys don't have to be forced to skate, they are doing what they want to do. The rookies they have
brought along are better than any junior who would be there, and it is a falacy to think a junior would
force them to do anything, they would be in such awe of those players they would probably pee their pants.

I don't think they care about doubling the viewership, you just don't seem to get it, it is about
'where' it is being played and what goes on 'live' during that time, the tv viewership is what it is,
and as long as many have the opinion that the game should rival some competetive hitting game, your
kind will always complain.

I wonder why you watch it.

I don't watch it, and that's why there aren't any kids in my house watching it either. I'd watch it and have kids watching it if there was something interesting to see. If you think that scenario doesn't matter to them you're kidding yourself.

 

[talloola]

I don't watch it, and that's why there aren't any kids in my house watching it either. I'd watch it and have kids watching it if there was something interesting to see. If you think that scenario doesn't matter to them you're kidding yourself.

i'm not kidding anybody, I see the big picture, not just a little sliver of 'what' I want.

 

[JLM]

Why even bother holding this game? Can't take a slapshot, no hitting..no one skates or shoots. What's the point?

They should sprinkle some oldtimers into the game. Any ex NHL player under 75 years old can play at that pace. At least it would interesting.

They say a change is as good as a rest. :smile:

I don't watch it, and that's why there aren't any kids in my house watching it either. I'd watch it and have kids watching it if there was something interesting to see. If you think that scenario doesn't matter to them you're kidding yourself.

"Interesting" in whose opinion?

 

[talloola]

The one little mistake 'at least in my opinion' was splitting up the twins, and I now know that it
was done before the actual draft, as alex burrows, when interviewed said that the twins had been given some equipment before hand, and it was for opposite teams,so there was some planning by the captains before
they came on tv, probably about other players as well.

When they are trying to showcase the individual talents of these players at the all-star event, then
the twins should have been together so the fans who are 'there' can see how they interact with each
other on the ice, their uncanny knowledge of each other on the ice, it would have been exciting for
the fans, but that didn't happen.

It seemed they thought the exact opposite would be exciting, but only the idea of it was like that,
because they both played very well with the other teams, but no one saw them do their thing together.

everyone's loss

 

[#juan]

The one little mistake 'at least in my opinion' was splitting up the twins, and I now know that it
was done before the actual draft, as alex burrows, when interviewed said that the twins had been given some equipment before hand, and it was for opposite teams,so there was some planning by the captains before
they came on tv, probably about other players as well.

When they are trying to showcase the individual talents of these players at the all-star event, then
the twins should have been together so the fans who are 'there' can see how they interact with each
other on the ice, their uncanny knowledge of each other on the ice, it would have been exciting for
the fans, but that didn't happen.

It seemed they thought the exact opposite would be exciting, but only the idea of it was like that,
because they both played very well with the other teams, but no one saw them do their thing together.

everyone's loss

Talloola the NHL players get a minimum wage of $525,000.00 U.S. For that kind of money they can damn well play
real hockey.

 

[TenPenny]

I watched it, and I enjoyed it. It was nice to see players who never play together having fun, playing without being idiots.

Your opinion may differ, doesn't make any difference to me.

 

[talloola]

I watched it, and I enjoyed it. It was nice to see players who never play together having fun, playing without being idiots.

Your opinion may differ, doesn't make any difference to me.

good to hear

Talloola the NHL players get a minimum wage of $525,000.00 U.S. For that kind of money they can damn well play
real hockey.

if the game was like a real league game, the injuries would start, and it wouldn't take long for the
general managers to get together and have the game 'cancelled', then it would disappear, just as you
guys all want.

can't you understand, put yourself in the gen. mgrs. position, with millions of dollars invested in
a team, the stanley cup is your goal, and your star player comes back, finished for the season because
he was injured in the all-star game, a game that has no impact on the season whatsoever, it's just a
celebration, and a fun week end, and a break in the action half way thru the season.

you guys have no flexability at all, you want what you want, and if the injuries happened and 'YOUR'
team was the one that lost their star player and ruined their chances to go far in the playoffs, then
you would be the 'FIRST' one to complain that it happened in the all-star game, a game that has no
meaning in the league.

you types want your cake and eat it too

it has nothing to do with 'how' much money players make, it does have to do with the money invested
by the owners, and their goal for their team.

and also, if you were one of the players, you would not have the desire in a game like that to be
that serious, it just isn't there, isn't human nature, THEY ARE HAVING FUN, for a change, they don't
get a chance to do that in any other game, they do nifty things, nice passing, nice plays, you can
hear them chit chatting, you can see them being loose and having fun.

good for them, I will give them that, they deserve it

 

[Avro]

I don't watch the Allstar game but I have been to one in Montreal....it was fun.

The reasons the Allstar game is good....kids love it...it is good for the host city...and it gives a break from the schedule for most of the players to spend time with their families.

Plus, who didn't enjoy watching Kessel get picked last, they are moaning about it today on Toronto sports radio....funniest moment this year.

YouTube - Phil Kessel Gets Picked Last @ 2011 ASG Fantasy Draft (January 28)

Ovie snapping a few pictures is the icing on the cake.