The NHL All-Star Game is an event fans love to criticize. From the player selection process to the uniforms, every hockey fan has a suggestion on how the league can improve the festivities. You may recall that we ran this style of post for the Winter Classic and now we turn our attention to the All-Star Game.
How can the NHL improve the All-Star Game? Offer your opinion below.
Take it Outside
Should the NHL combine the Winter Classic and the All-Star Game? Taking the All-Star Game outside would certainly liven things up and it might also rejuvenate the Winter Classic at the same time by having more than two teams represented in the event.
Why not have the game’s best show off their skills outside? Wouldn’t it make more sense to have an exhibition outside than a regular season game?
Granted, it might be more difficult for the top players to show off their skills if the ice conditions were poor and the sight lines may not be idea, but that hasn’t prevented the NHL from hosting competitions which actually count towards the standings under the same conditions.
Player Selection
Every All-Star Game features several snubs and player selections which might leave you scratching your head. Fan voting has been used to add a level of engagement, but it usually ends up pretty poorly. It’s fun to see Zemgus Girgensons take over the voting, but five of the six players voted in were Chicago Blackhawks. Though the league has filled in the rest of the rosters with representatives from each of the 30 teams, there’s got to be a better way to do this.
Maybe make statistics actually matter in the selections? Maybe call fancy stats into the mix? Let hockey writers pick the squads? Maybe have two captains pick their squads with the caveat that any player in the NHL with 20+ games this season is eligible? There are a lot of new ideas the NHL could use instead of the faulty fan voting.
Let Fans Design the Jerseys
The NHL has proven once again that they do not know how to design a jersey for the All-Star Game. The bizarre white, black and lime green creation screams of an adult trying to look hip and failing miserably.
If you theoretically ditch fan voting for player selection, why not let fans design the uniforms? Designs can be submitted and then fans can vote on the top-2 which should be worn. If you’ve seen some of the incredible designs fans come up with regularly online, you know that there are some great possibilities.
Simplify and Lighten Up the Skills Competition
The Skills Competition is supposed to be the most laid back event of the weekend. The NHL has increasingly sucked the fun out of the Skills Competition and has been adding more and more complicated elements to the festivities.
Keep things simple. We want to see the hardest shot, fastest skater and most accurate shooter. While we’re at it, add in some fun events like shootout attempts taken by goaltenders. Make Roberto Luongo take a shot on Marc-Andre Fleury. It doesn’t matter if they shoot with their paddles or a regular stick, it’s guaranteed to be entertaining.
Play Up the Exhibition Angle
Unlike Major League Baseball, the NHL All-Star Game doesn’t mean anything. That’s a good thing and it’s important for it to stay that way. With that in mind, don’t market the game or broadcast the game as some sort of epic struggle settled between the game’s best.
Instead, play up the fact you may see something crazy happen. Show highlights from past installments where the NHL’s best combined on a passing play which left fans’ jaws open. Anyone who knows anything about hockey knows what to expect from the All-Star Game, so don’t try to make it something it’s not. Have some fun with it.
Mics and Cameras
Give us something new during the All-Star Game. To be fair, the league will have player-tracking chips which will give us some new stats, but keep that momentum going and try out some new cameras. Let’s see some technology.
Mic up every single player and official. We want to hear all of the conversations out on the ice because you’re bound to get some interesting chatter between all of these players from a variety of teams.
Return to the East vs. West Format
A lot of fans will disagree with this opinion, but the East vs. West format makes the most sense. While it’s fun to see a player pick his own team, it won’t always be. The two captains will always be debated and you’re not doing anything to drum up the rivalry between the two conferences.
The conference vs. conference story is one that’s constantly talked about now that every team plays every other team in the league during the regular season and it’s an angle discussed extensively during the Stanley Cup Final. Why not get the rivalry started a bit earlier each year by having the best from the West and the East battle it out? Sure, it’s under a laid back atmosphere, but it’s the format which might have the most longevity.