You Decide: The New NHL All-Star Game Format (Like it or Hate It)
via NHLonNBC
The 2016 NHL All-Star game is getting a makeover this year and I got to be honest, I absolutely love it. If you have watched any of the all-star games over the past few years, you can attest to how dry and boring they have become. Nobody actually tries to play, skate, and everyone just wants to have a good time without taking it seriously.
Since the game has become meaningless and just a chance for the fans to see all their favorite players goof around for 60 minutes, why not spice it up? This isn’t baseball where the all-star game decided home field advantage in the finals. The 3 on 3 overtime format has been absolutely electric to watch so far this season, so why not show that off with the best players in the league going against each other. Here is how it’s going to go down in Nashville this year.
There will be four teams of nine skaters and two goalies, one team for each of the four divisions (Atlantic and Metropolitan in the East; Central and Pacific in the West). There will be a 20-minute mini-game, likely two 10-minute halves, featuring one division versus another in 3-on-3 action followed by another 20-minute game with the other two divisions playing each other.
The two winning teams would then meet in a third 20-minute session for the so-called “championship” game.
This sounds like a blast to be honest. Sure it’s not traditional hockey, but neither is the actual all-star game anymore, so for that reason, I am completely fine with this new look. I love the fact that we are going to see teams made up of players from the same division as opposed to conference or nationality. I mean Tavares, Ovechkin, and Crosby with Lundqvist between the pipes, oh dear. Kane, Toews, and Tarasenko, oh my. This is going to be fun. Nashville is in for a treat this year in my opinion, and I feel like this could be the spark-plug the all-star game needs in order to get the players interested in going again.
The one-million dollar prize is weird to me though I will admit. One-million dollars split between 11 guys who for the most part already make millions a year. I gotta imagine that whoever the captain of the winning team is will end up donating the money to a charity or something along those lines.
Although I wrote before about my thoughts on the new 3 on 3 overtime format, it is going to be interesting to see whether or not players are going to love this new all-star game, or if we are just going to continue to get the lack of effort from the NHL all-stars. I think the fans should be excited to see the top talents in the game work with all that open ice, and the possibilities for highlight reel goals and saves are going to be endless.
So what do you think of the new NHL All-Star game format?
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