The NHL All-Star festivities this weekend in L.A. will have a Hollywood feel to them, as Snoop Dogg is headlining "two events," while celebs like Jon Hamm, Michael J. Fox and John Legend will "take part in a tribute to the NHL’s 100 greatest players Friday," according to Kevin Baxter of the L.A. TIMES. Oscar winners Cuba Gooding Jr. and Tim Robbins will play in a celebrity game Saturday, while Carly Rae Jepsen, Fifth Harmony and Nick Jonas will "perform at Sunday’s game." L.A. Sports & Entertainment Commission President Kathryn Schloessman: "One of the selling points when we’re selling our city versus other cities is you’re in the entertainment capital. The owners and the VIPs and the sponsors love that because they want access to the celebrities." However, NHL Exec VP & Chief Content Officer Steve Mayer said that All-Star weekend is "intended to sell the game to more than just a few VIPs and sponsors." Baxter noted it "doesn’t hurt the NHL that the musical artists scheduled to perform this weekend have more than 35 million Twitter followers combined." Last year's All-Star events in Nashville "raised the bar for this year, forcing the NHL to go beyond drawings of palm trees and pictures of the beach to capture what is unique about Southern California" (L.A. TIMES, 1/26). YAHOO SPORTS' Greg Wyshynski wrote the All-Star Game in L.A. "feels different" than past events. Wyshynski: "It feels bigger. It feels like they were trying to book significant names rather than, you know, who was free that weekend." Bringing in the trio of pop stars on Sunday is a "calculated move," because they "all bring their own fan support." Fifth Harmony will sing the National Anthem prior to Sunday's game, and Mayer said, "They have a fan base that will watch anything that they do. I think the jury’s still out on who is going to come and watch us, but we need the younger fan base" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/26).
STAR GAZING: YAHOO SPORTS' Wyshynski noted the NHL celebrity game on Saturday will feature celebs like David Boreanaz and Taylor Kitsch, but it also will "feature a slew of NHL Top 100 players." Mayer said that the NHL reached out to Justin Bieber "about playing in the celebrity game, but they couldn’t work it out due to his schedule." Meanwhile, at the "NHL 100" celebration on Friday night, singer Robin Thicke, the son of late actor and hockey fan Alan Thicke, will introduce the in-memoriam segment with a tribute to his late father." At the celebrity game, players will wear an Alan Thicke patch "in his honor: a Canadian maple leaf with an 'AT' on it." Thicke was an "active participant in those celebrity games" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/24).
REPEAT YEAR? In Boston, Stephen Harris wrote last year's All-Star Game was "actually fun and entertaining and nearly worth the price of admission." The game itself was also "surprisingly entertaining." The 3-on-3 format is "back for this year's game." L.A. likely "will be a good host city ... but there are two strikes already against that happening: No John Scott; no Patrice Bergeron." Those two guys, more than anyone, "made last year’s event a success" (BOSTON HERALD, 1/23).
