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Notebook First All-Star shootout a big hit with fansPosted: Sunday February 02, 2003 10:29 PMUpdated: Tuesday February 04, 2003 4:18 PM
By Jon A. Dolezar and Jamie MacDonald, CNNSI.com SUNRISE, Fla. -- For most of the afternoon, the 53rd NHL All-Star Game was as exciting as a shuffleboard game at a beachfront retirement home. But the first shootout in NHL history livened things up as an unexpected bonus. Many fans left their seats thinking the game had ended in a 5-5 tie after Marian Gaborik just missed the game-winner as time expired in overtime. When the public address announcer gave word that a shootout would follow, the building went crazy and fans scurried back to their seats. The NHL added the shootout for the 1994 game at Madison Square Garden, but it hadn't been needed for nine years. Sunday's game was the fourth to go into overtime, but the first to use the four-on-four format in the extra period. The last All-Star Game to go to OT was on Feb. 9, 1988, when Mario Lemieux scored at 1:08 to give the Wales Conference a 6-5 victory over the Campbell Conference. The talk in the locker rooms after Sunday's game was divided on whether the NHL should adopt the shootout rule to settle games. "The shootout is nice," Jaromir Jagr said. "I think it was very exciting. It wasn't that high scoring of a game. When it's 16-14, people get enough of the goals. But 5-5 is pretty high, and then we had overtime and penalty shots. I think that sooner or later it's going to happen in the regular season." East assistant coach Ken Hitchcock coached the Kalamazoo Wings in the International Hockey League while the shootout was in use. "It's exciting," Hitchcock said. "But the part that is frustrating for all of us was that players who had no impact in the game ended up winning points for their team. It's a very exciting part of the game, but us traditionalists would like to see the game decided. If we did anything, what would be nice for us it to play until you scored." Olli Jokinen finished with a goal and three assists, but the game ended when his shootout attempt bounced off the left post. "I think it's not a good way to end games," Jokinen said. "It's different when you play in the World Championships and the Olympics. Then you have to do that because you have no time to play three overtimes like in the NHL playoffs. I think the fans would love if they started doing it in the NHL games, but it would be tough to give an extra point to the team who wins the shootout." While the players are clearly split on the issue, it sounded like a rousing success among fans.
Change for the betterThe dominant line of the game wasn't even together in the initial pairings The East planned to play Jeremy Roenick between Dany Heatley and Jaromir Jagr, with Olli Jokinen paired with Miroslav Satan and Jeff O'Neill. But a change of heart in the Sunday morning meeting flip-flopped Roenick and Jokinen, and provided the East with a big offensive spark. "We didn't know where we were going to put Olli," East assistant coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We had him on a different line, but then we decided that it would be a good show to play Jokinen, Heatley and Jagr togehter and they clicked. It was a line that was put together more by accident." The trio combined for 12 points, with Heatley getting five, Jokinen four and Jagr three.
Deferential treatmentWith 30 seconds remaining in the first period, during the lean minutes (hours?) of this one, Modano dropped a pass to a weaving Bill Guerin, who dropped a pass for a weaving Ray Whitney, who shot harmlessly into the pads of Nikolai Khabibulin. It begged the question of whether the All-Star Game suffers from a passing fancy. "I think that's the way the whole game is," said Guerin, who played the whole game with Modano, his Stars teammate. "One thing about a game like this is that nobody wants to be -- or appear -- selfish. And with that I think we tend to over-pass. Mike could have been the most guilty of that. But that's because he's a class act and a quality guy." Modano scored the game's third goal with a wicked wrist shot from the left circle, but after that he was almost forcing passes. With 3:55 to go in the second, Modano was camped in front of the net when the puck found his stick. Instead of turning and firing, or blindly throwing the puck at Martin Brodeur, the way goal scorers probably pick up at least 10 percent of their goals, Modano pushed the puck to an even worse shooting angle, 15 feet down the goal line and to Brodeur's right. "It's a very unselfish game," Modano said. "Everybody wants to move it around. And a shot is the last option."
Worth notingThe mere mention of the Philadelphia Flyers during a pregame video tour around the NHL drew boos from the crowd at the Office Depot Center. ... Referees Dennis LaRue and Dan O'Halloran, as well as linesmen Jean Morin and Tim Nowak, were officiating their first NHL All-Star Game. ... A sign on the facade of the upper deck had the weather forecast for both Sunrise (76 and perfect) and St. Paul, Minn. (31 degrees and wintry), next year's All-Star site. ... Playing in his seventh straight All-Star Game, goalie Martin Brodeur tied Terry Sawchuk for second place. ... The fans were silently watching Sheryl Crow's pregame performance at 2:30 p.m. when ABC came on the air, and had to be prompted by the scoreboard to make any noise. ... The mascots for the Predators, Ducks, Panthers and 'Canes repelled from the ceiling to begin the pregame festitivies, while the remainder of the mascots entered in a conga line at center ice. ... The Avalanche and Flyers players drew boos during the introductions, while former Panthers Ray Whitney, Ed Jovanovski and Sandis Ozolinsh received the loudest ovations. Ozolinsh was traded to Anaheim on Thursday. ... Doug Weight took a Jovanovski slap shot off the foot at 16:35 of the third period and left the game. He left the arena on crutches. ... Latin singer Jorge Moreno sang the Star-Spangled Banner with a flamenco-style acoustic guitar accompaniment, while Canadian Paul Brandt sang O Canada. ... The Goo Goo Dolls performed between the first and second periods, and Crow came inside from the nearby NHL Block Party and did the entertainment honors during the second intermission. ... Nikolai Khabibulin made a kick save to prevent Dean Swanson from winning $250,000 in a contest during the second intermission, but Swanson was still given a check for $25,000. |
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