NHL All Star Weekend Recap
Unlike the NFL Pro Bowl, the NHL All-Star game really is all about entertaining the fans, rather than a vacation for the players. This year was no different and fans got to watch their favorite players duke it out to be the best of the best of the best in the NHL. It began on Thursday with the fantasy draft, and finished up yesterday with the grand finale, the All-Star game played between Team Alfredsson and Team Chara.
A few said that the fantasy draft held on Thursday night lacked the exciting dynamic of last year’s fantasy draft; but that’s not very surprising as last year was the first year ever for it and therefore had that unique momentum going for it. Still, most thought that this is quickly becoming the most highly-anticipated event of the draft, with even Don Cherry calling the entire event “the best All-Star weekend ever.” This year’s draft on Thursday was very relaxed and casual, and gave fans a glimpse into a side of players’ personalities that they don’t get to see often enough. Jason Spezza and Erik Karlsson ribbed each other about who their Captain, Daniel Alfredsson, would choose first while players of the Toronto Maple Leafs were constantly booed and Zdeno Chara steered clear of any member of the Bruins‘ rival team, the Vancouver Canucks. It all set the tone for a thrilling Skills Competition on Saturday afternoon.
That was held at this year’s All-Stars headquarters, Scotiabank Place in Kanata, Ontario. On the ice there the players competed in six challenges: fastest skater, a breakaway challenge, accuracy shooting, skills challenge relay, hardest shot, and the elimination shootout. While Zdeno Chara held onto his title of having the hardest shot in the NHL, winning that category with a shot that flew at 108.8 mph, he wasn’t able to see his team defeat Team Alfredsson. All in all, the captain of the Ottawa Senators proved to have the very best team in the NHL, winning the Skills Competition 21-12 over Team Chara.
It was all leading up though to the All-Star game on Sunday, and those who paid big bucks for a single ticket might have been a bit disappointed. While it was the very best players in the NHL out there on the ice, it was a game that essentially meant nothing and you could tell watching it. Players seemed to be skating through water as they slid around the ice with no real energy or enthusiasm. Neither wanted to let the other team score, but with concussions and other injuries on the minds of players and in a game that was more about fan appreciation than anything, no one really wanted to take too big of a chance. The game picked up a bit at the end, after Daniel Alfredsson scored two goals and desperately tried for another. He didn’t get that, not that it would have helped his team anyway — they lost the All-Star game to Team Chara with a final score of 12-9.
Categorized in: NHL