By Justin Orlewicz (Hockey Writer) – Email
Last weekend was All-Star weekend for the two top hockey leagues and the best football league in the world, giving the action sports fans three games to watch. I won’t say much about the NFL because it’s not my place: I know my place, and it’s not in football. However, it was rather amusing to see some fans charge the field – that’s something I haven’t seen in a while. As for what I do know: the NHL and the AHL both changed up the nature of their respective All-Star weekends in different, almost opposite ways, but the new format seemed to work relatively well in both cases.
I was weary at first about the idea of this schoolyard-style team picking for the NHL game, but as the weekend’s festivities went on from the draft to the actual game itself, I think it’s safe to say that this type of All-Star format in this kind of hockey market was more of a success than a failure by a long shot. The game was extremely entertaining, and despite the absence of the West versus East element, it was interesting to finally see the Sedins separated and playing against each other for the first time. It turns out that Henrik can pass to anyone, something Canucks fans have known since Daniel’s injury last season. I was disappointed that there was no Young-Stars Game this year and that they only took part in the skills competition. A Young-Stars Game would have been icing on the cake for a potentially-botched-event-turned-great.
I hate to say it now, but I had Patrick Sharp taking the MVP and the truck from the get go; I knew he was hungry and wanted to prove himself after the team Canada snub (I also called the Dany Heatley All-Star MVP a few years back, most of my friends can attest to that). I should have tweeted it or something, maybe it was because I was a little ill for the break that it slipped my mind, but in my eyes, Patrick Sharp is the most underrated player in the NHL and it’s about time he got the recognition he deserves. Sharp has been playing on a team full of All-Stars and newly crowned Stanley Cup champions for a few years now, and it’s nice that he finally got a little bit of the spotlight for himself, just like Brad Richards finally did this year as well. It’s actually a very similar situation; he is a Stanley Cup champion, a Conn Smyth playoff MVP in 2004 with the Tampa Bay Lightening, but Richards had never seen an All-Star Game until last weekend. The end tally was 11-10 for team Lidstrom, but real hockey fans know how incredibly irrelevant the final score actually is in a game like this.
Moving on to the AHL’s All-Star Game; I like that the AHL went back to the East versus West format, but maybe it’s only because the NHL was switching it up this year too. The AHL had done a North America versus the World format in recent years, something the NHL tried once. Regardless of the format, I found the AHL’s skills competition far move organized and entertaining than the NHL’s. Maybe it’s because they had a smaller budget; sometimes less flash and glitter is better for a sport like hockey. Another reason could be the fact that the Hershey Bears hosted the event. Hershey, Pa., is the home of one of the oldest and most established franchises in the AHL. Besides, their attendance is at the top of the league, regardless of the gimmicks. They are also two time defending Calder Cup champions, looks like the NHL-affiliate Washington Capitals have more than Ovi and Backstrom in the cupboard. Also, these guys are fighting for jobs in the NHL; an AHL All-Star Game is the perfect place to show off your skills to the big league scouts and GMs in attendance.
I came across an interesting stat: 93 per cent of the players that played in an AHL all-star game in the last 15 years have gone on to play in the NHL on the regular. Some notables that have recently been in a, AHL All-Star game include: Bobby Ryan, Daniel Briere, Martin St.Louis, Zedeno Chara, and Eric Stall. Ironic, two of this year’s captains and the record holder for hardest shot in this year’s NHL All-Star Game were all previously in an AHL All-Star Game.
Hands down the best breakaway goal in all the breakaway contests of the weekend came from the AHL’s skills competition; Linus Klasen of the Milwaukee Admirals 360 spin move (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK3pyWZ6K3s,) is a must see. The only Abbotsford Heat player in the all-star game was T.J. Brodie. Representing the Canucks farm system was the recently returned Sergei Shirokov. Two other notables from the Western squad were their goaltenders; local boy Mark Dekanich from the Milwaukee Admirals and Jake Allen from the Peoria Rivermen. The East took a three-goal cushion to an 11-8 final. Regardless of the score, though, every hockey fan should love a good All-Star Game in any format. For more insider info on the AHL and the NHL follow me on Twitter @JustinOrly.
