The NHL will feature a new 3-on-3 format in Sunday's All-Star Game in Nashville, the "umpteeth time" the league has made a change, but this one "should work," according to Barry Bloom of SPORTS ON EARTH. The idea is to make the ASG "more competitive," with three 20-minute periods split into 10-minute halves. Lines of three skaters "representing each of the NHL's four divisions will meet in the first two periods." The winners will "faceoff in the third period with the overall victors splitting" $1M. Knowing the "mindset of pro athletes, the combination of the format and the prize money undoubtedly will make it a competitive spectacle" (SPORTSONEARTH.com, 1/28). USA TODAY's Kevin Allen wrote nobody "knows whether the new format and the money will inspire the players to treat the game as more than an exhibition, but at the very least, it should spice up the show." With the NHL embracing 3-on-3 OT this season, this format "has the promise of high-speed entertainment" (USA TODAY, 1/26). In Denver, Terry Frei wrote there will be those who "poke fun at or deride" the new format. But it both "concedes and formalizes what the All-Star Game had become -- and will remain short of raising the stakes with such things as a winning-team-takes-all pool rivaling a huge Powerball payoff." Frei: "Fun. Fast. Devoid of emotion or edge. And if it serves as an advertisement for the league's popular new overtime format, great" (DENVER POST, 1/24). In Winnipeg, Tim Campbell notes many have "mocked the format, but based on the overtime we've seen this season, it has to be infinitely more interesting than a generation of all-star games we've seen" (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, 1/29).
SCOTT TRADE: YAHOO SPORTS' Greg Wyshynski noted Shop.NHL.com was "sold out" of ASG shirts for Canadiens LW John Scott on Thursday morning. Wyshynski: "We’ll go ahead and assume this was the NHL underestimating demand, but then again maybe the John Scott All-Star captaincy actually did drive this much interest in getting his gear" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/28). USA TODAY's Allen noted many "view Scott's selection as a mockery of the process." But Scott also has "made this one of the most-discussed All-Star games in years" (USA TODAY, 1/28). In Toronto, Mike Zeisberger asks, "Isn't this event supposed to honour the sport's elite?" Everyone "likes a sideshow," which is "exactly what Scottgate has become" (TORONTO SUN, 1/29). Also in Toronto, Bruce Arthur writes Scott is "now the league's anti-hero, and probably the best thing to happen to this misbegotten weekend in a long, long time" (TORONTO STAR, 1/29). Scott yesterday penned a piece for The Players' Tribune chronicling his trade from the Coyotes to the Canadiens (THE DAILY).
GIFTS TO REMEMBER: In Nashville, Jessica Bliss noted participants in Sunday's game will receive a new Gibson guitar with a "personalized metal nameplate and 2016 All-Star logo." It is "just one of the pieces of Nashville flair that players and coaches will take home after this weekend's festivities." Nashville Sports Council President & CEO Scott Ramsey: "You want to celebrate the players and give them a memorable experience so they will look back at the all-star experience in Nashville as unique." Bliss noted each NHL owner will receive a "special bottle of Jack Daniel's Select Tennessee Whiskey procured from one dedicated barrel in nearby Lynchburg." The barrel was "hand-selected by the local committee organizing the All-Star events, and each NHL owner will receive a bottle etched with the NHL All-Star logo as an enviable keepsake." Players, coaches and owners also get a "limited-edition Winter Park American Wheat beer produced by Nashville's Yazoo brewery." Yazoo "made an 80-barrel batch, which was kegged and put into about 500 bottles with a special Predators-inspired All-Star label." There also is a "sleeve of Bridgestone golf balls with the Winter Park logo" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 1/28).
