The upcoming NHL All-Star Game in Nashville will be a "3-on-3 mini game format," which the NHLPA "recently signed off on," according to TSN's Bob McKenzie. Among the details, McKenzie said the fantasy draft from years past is "dead" and instead there will be "four divisional teams" featuring 9-10 skaters plus goalies for each team. The two Eastern Conference teams would "play a 20-minute mini game," with the Western Conference doing the same. The two winners would face each other in "another 20-minute mini game." McKenzie said, "Certainly everybody believes that the All-Star Game needed a refresh and this looks like what it's going to be." McKenzie added there is "expected to be a large cash incentive for the winning 10 or 12 players that are on that team." Meanwhile, TSN's Pierre LeBrun said the NHL and NHLPA are "very much in the concept stage" of discussing a "Ryder Cup-style event in London" in either '18 or '19, depending on whether the NHL participates in the '18 PyeongChang Games. Participation there would "replace the All-Star Game." LeBrun said the format would be a "unique thing and part of this big-picture international landscape" the league and NHLPA "keep pushing" ("SportsCentre," TSN, 11/17). In Nashville, Adam Vingan writes altering how the All-Star Game is played could "ratchet up its competitiveness as a lack of intensity has often been a criticism of the annual exhibition" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 11/18).
I GO TO EXTREMES: CBSSPORTS.com's Adam Gretz wrote the NHL "hasn't been afraid to go in extreme directions when it comes to making the All-Star Game watchable and more interesting for fans." In the late '90s they "introduced the North America vs. The World concept that remained in place for five years" until '02 before "going back to a conference vs. conference format." In '11-12, the league "scrapped that format and went with the fantasy draft that saw two captains pick their own teams," a format that was "used three different times." For the most part, 3-on-3 OT play has been a "huge success in the NHL this season, but there have been a few complaints from players" (CBSSPORTS.com, 11/17).
FINAL FANTASY: USA TODAY's Kristen Shilton wrote it will be "sad to say goodbye to some of the silly antics that have been a hallmark of the fantasy draft in recent years." Shilton: "Who could forget Phil Kessel being selected last in 2011 ... and Alex Ovechkin gleefully snapping his photo (or, for that matter, Ovechkin angling to be chosen last in 2015 so he could get a car)? Or when Nick Foligno, a team captain, traded Tyler Seguin for Kessel last year, a nod to the real-life trade that took place involving those players?" (USATODAY.com, 11/17). YAHOO SPORTS' Greg Wyshynski wrote, "Let’s all pour a little out for the NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft, the most wonderful night of drunken tomfoolery this side of the NHL Awards" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 11/17).
NET GAINS: SPORTSNET.ca's Elliotte Friedman offered an "alternate suggestion" to increasing excitement, including "bigger nets." Friedman: "Try them behind some of your best goalies, many of your best shooters and most skilled players. Pick the players based on who you’d like to see test them, players whose opinions should matter the most." It would make a "meaningless game a meaningful experiment." The player draft "is great," and the skills competition "is tremendous, especially as the competitors get more and more creative." But the game "is a bore, which is why the NHL is absolutely right to search for a solution." Friedman: "How much harder is it for Henrik Lundqvist or Carey Price or Pekka Rinne to stop a puck? How much more shooting room is there?" Friedman: "You can play all three periods with a bigger net. Or, you can play two with a bigger net and one with a same-sized net that has smaller posts. Maybe there’s a third prototype you'd like to try. Whatever. This is a blank canvas and someone can be da Vinci" (SPORTSNET.ca, 11/17).
