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Events and Attractions

NHL All-Star Weekend Highlighted By Record-Setting Scoring Performance, Unique Format

Last night's NHL All-Star Game "in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,901" at Nationwide Arena was the "highest-scoring in NHL history," according to Aaron Portzline of the COLUMBUS DISPATCH. The game featured "29 goals, 92 shots on goal, zero hits and zero penalties." The only "scrum that formed" -- when Blackhawks G Corey Crawford early in the 2nd period got "poked with a stick -- was a playful skit with giggles and smiles." The game every year "seems to drift a little further away from the fast, physical play of the regular season." But fans and the players do not "seem to mind." Lightning C Steven Stamkos: “Sometimes you just need to get away from the grind a little bit. Guys were able to do that a little bit this weekend" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 1/26). In Buffalo, John Vogl writes the game, played at "less than half speed, was anticlimactic after two days of quality events." The Skills Competition on Saturday "created more of a buzz for the crowd," and Friday night's "wisecrack-filled fantasy draft to select the teams was the weekend highlight" (BUFFALO NEWS, 1/26). But Blue Jackets President of Hockey Operations John Davidson said, "What people have to understand, the All-Star Game is not, 'let's drop the puck and see if we can win it 4-3.' It's a celebration of the game. People have to understand it. There were lineups to see the (Stanley) Cup. A big lineup for the (snow) slide. It's celebrating the game." Sportsnet's Glenn Healy: "You've got to look at this event in much of a bigger picture. And I think any of us that have been around Columbus for the last couple of days, you saw 150,000 fans cruising around the city spending around $22 million. ... You have to look at the overall picture and the fan experience and just how many people came and had such a great time" (ESPN.com, 1/25). Blackhawks RW Patrick Kane: "That's all we're really doing out there is having fun and kind of trying to show our skill at the same time. Kind of feels like summer hockey a little bit where there's a lot of breakaways, a lot of odd-man rushes" (CP, 1/25).

GREAT SHOWING FOR COLUMBUS: In Columbus, Doug Buchanan writes the city "put on quite a show over the weekend," as the reaction of fans on social media was that they "came away impressed" by the event. The NHL said that 33,500 people "visited the ticketed Fan Fair alone at the convention center," and the atmosphere there "was truly special." Buchanan: "The place was packed, and if the NHL sweaters on display were any indication, fans came from many different cities to take in the action" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 1/26). Also in Columbus, Michael Arace wrote this year's game "was a hit." When asked how good this All-Star Weekend was, one high-ranking NHL official said, "The best. The best" (DISPATCH.com, 1/25). SPORTSNET.ca's Mark Spector wrote All-Star Weekend was "one hell of an event that consumed -- and to a certain extent, validated -- a market that is every bit deserving of some NHL success." It will be a "rousing success again a year from now when they hold the all-star weekend in Nashville" (SPORTSNET.ca, 1/25). In Toronto, Damien Cox writes it is easy to "suggest the all-star game is an anachronism, and to point out the NFL does just fine without a mid-season all-star game." But it can be "wildly successful in individual markets, and helpful to teams looking to establish deeper roots in cities that don’t have long hockey histories" (TORONTO STAR, 1/26).

SKILLS TO PAY THE BILLS: In Toronto, Kevin McGran noted the "fun that started with Friday’s draft" continued Saturday when "good times continued to roll through the skills competition." All-Star Weekend "used to be on life support," but the personalities of the players on display this weekend have "breathed new life into the format." Players enjoyed themselves with "saucer passes into small nets, goalies scoring the length of the ice and stickhandling drills at breakneck speed." Blue Jackets LW Nick Foligno after the competition said, "That was a lot of fun" (TORONTO STAR, 1/25). YAHOO SPORTS' Greg Wyshynski noted the breakaway challenge could have been "even more fun had the NHL allowed" Flames LW Johnny Gaudreau to "follow through with his initial plan: Lighting his own stick on fire." Gaudreau: "Me and Mark Giordano were talking about it on the bus a little bit earlier and thought it would be a good idea since we play for the Flames. I asked one of the player safety guys here and they said no" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/24). ESPN's Barry Melrose said, "This is all about enjoyment. It’s enjoyment for the sponsors. It’s enjoyment for the advertisers, the players -- they’re all rubbing shoulders" ("NHL All-Star Skills Competition Preshow," NHL Network, 1/24). However, CBSSPORTS.com's Adam Gretz wrote the breakaway challenge was one of "the bad" moments of the weekend's festivities. It is "supposed to be the NHL's version of the Slam Dunk contest that gives players the freedom and creativity to do whatever they want." It is a "good idea in theory, but more often than not, it fails." The only thing that "salvaged this year's event" was Blues G Brian Elliott's selfie with his teammate RW Vladimir Tarasenko "in the background" (CBSSPORTS.com, 1/25).

DRAFT DAY: SPORTING NEWS' Sean Gentille wrote the NHL All-Star fantasy draft on Friday "gave the people what they wanted." It "wasn't perfect," and there were "still lulls." But the time spent on stage at the Greater Columbus Convention Center was "worth it; the players, with some help from their cups, were awesome." Gentille: "It left you wanting more." Team Toews sent Maple Leafs RW Phil Kessel "across the stage in a trade" for Stars C Tyler Seguin. Fans have "seen that before ... in real life." It was "easy to assume that the trade, and most of the funny stuff throughout the night, was at least outlined beforehand." Most of the guys involved, though, said that they "came up with it on the fly." Capitals RW Alex Ovechkin, as "per custom, stole a good portion of the night; from the start, he went all-in on a bit about hoping to get picked last." Gretz: "He needed the Honda Accord, you see. Instagrams were posted. Signs were made" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 1/24). 

BEGGING FOR A GOOD CAUSE: In DC, Alex Prewitt reported when Ovechkin and his confidants gathered to discuss All-Star Weekend, they "aimed their crosshairs on the idea of winning a car." Honda had "planned to award Accord EX-Ls both to the final two picks of Friday night’s fantasy draft and to the MVP of Sunday’s actual event." So the plan was for Ovechkin "to get chosen last." He was taken "33rd overall in Friday’s draft, one spot shy of winning a car, because the two team captains saw how hard he was begging for the car and decided to make him sweat." But then Honda "came along, having watched Ovechkin’s performance during the fantasy draft, when he spent the entire telecast pleading for the vehicular hardware." Honda National Advertising Manager Nick Lee said, "Alex playing it up all through the broadcast was great, great theater for TV. He lent a real funny angle to it as well, did some things we never expected." Prewitt noted the reason Ovechkin "spent all weekend stating his case for a free ride" was that he "wanted to donate it to the Washington Ice Dogs, a local hockey team for children with developmental disabilities" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 1/25).

CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK: The WASHINGTON POST's Prewitt noted reporters during the Skills Competition on Saturday "gathered to look at a jersey, a puck and a television screen, each part of the league’s unveiling of player tracking." NHL COO John Collins said that the league, in partnership with Sportvision, was "using the occasion to, for the first time, test its latest innovation," aiming to “'create a digital record of what’s happening on the ice'” (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 1/25). Collins said, “We want to create a digital record of what happens on the ice. One that's consistent across the league, that's highly accurate and that lets fans go as deep as they want to go.” In Pittsburgh, Jason Mackey notes NHLPA Special Assistant to the Exec Dir Mathieu Schneider “is taking a cautious approach.” Schneider: “These are the discussions we're having with the players right now, like, ‘Will coaches coach by statistics sitting on the bench with an iPad?' There will need to be that sense from the guys that it's not going to get overused or used improperly” (PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 1/26).

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