The call for more old time grit and emotion is growing

	Fans had plenty to rave about when Sidney Crosby and the Penguins collided (literally) with the Stars in Dallas on January 26. AP
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Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you can turn things around and make them better.

Not that last week's All-Star festivities met that metaphorical low point. But the game itself -- filled as it was with an abundance of speed, unobstructed playmaking and nearly two dozen goals, but little in the way of entertainment value -- served to emphasize a point. Despite the obvious improvements brought about by last season's rules changes, there are desirable elements of the game that simply don't exist in the NHL right now, at least not in the way that they should.

Fans in some quarters have been vocal about the need to bring physical play back into the game, especially in the corners and in front of the net where the emotional tone is set for the teams and the crowd. Now, a pair of high-profile coaches has joined the chorus for change.

Tampa Bay bench boss John Tortorella understands the New NHL as well as anyone. His team is the second-least penalized in the NHL, so his complaints aren't motivated by an inability to work within the system as much as a desire to provide a more entertaining product.

"I think we've done some great things as far as some of the rules changes, in allowing our best players to be our best players," he told the Tampa Tribune. "But I think ... we've gone down the wrong road and taken the jam out of the game. And I think we get so hyped up about trying to bring new fans in, we forget about the old-schoolers... And I think we're losing them, because it's a ballet."

His concerns were echoed the next day by Islanders coach Ted Nolan in the Boston Herald.

"We've got to get more of the physical aspect into the game," Nolan said. "You touch anybody with a little flick of the wrist and you get called for hooking or interference. They did good to get rid of the clutching and grabbing, but if they could let a little bit of it go, then the emotions could get back and going and the tempers would start flaring again. Players hardly even argue on the ice with each other anymore. You've got to get a little bit of emotion back in there again."

It's ironic that just two days after the All-Star circus left Dallas, the city hosted a game that proved how compelling the sport can be when it combines the best elements of the old and the new. The Stars-Penguins battle -- yes, that's exactly the right word -- was arguably the most entertaining match of the season.

It was the first meeting of the two teams since the lockout, so the ferocity wasn't sparked by some pre-fabricated divisional rivalry. Instead, it was two teams who decided early on that they both wanted the points on the table. And they were willing to run over anyone who got in their way in order to snatch them.

The game featured an abundance of the creativity, skating and playmaking that has become the hallmark of the New NHL. There was end-to-end action, a spectacular overtime with multiple scoring chances, and a dramatic shootout.