Win-win situation

Fans, players deliver at thrilling All-Star Game

Many folks annually debate the relative merits of the NHL All-Star Game. I even heard analyst Glenn Healy on TSN in Canada comment last week that the game was a "dinosaur" and just a seasonal schmooze-fest with little purpose or meaning.

Anyone who witnessed Sunday's affair would beg to differ. The 53rd NHL All-Star Game proved many things, including that the game itself can draw you in -- fans, players and sponsors alike. Forget for a moment the importance of the renewal of the bond between the three integral groups. Overlook if you must the entire experience and effort involved on a multitude of levels to stage such a quality event. Disregard if you will the entertainment value of the YoungStars Game and Skills Competition that took place Saturday night. This outing proved that all trappings aside, it always comes back to the game.

And this one delivered in stunning fashion: speed, skill, competitiveness and drama converged on a sheet of ice in Sunrise, Fla., on a Sunday afternoon. For those fortunate enough to be in attendance, there was an early inkling that something special might be going on. Dany Heatley's electrifying curl 'n' drag move past Rob Blake followed by a wicked wrister past Patrick Roy served as foreshadowing.

Back and forth they went, with the West tallying four times and Heatley astonishingly doing likewise. And that was only through two periods. Then the pace quickened. The intensity rose. A few body checks entered the equation. Yet again, the West went ahead by a goal -- answered once more by the East. In overtime, during which the teams skated in the now customary 4-on-4 format from the regular season the teams raced up and down the ice, stymied time and again by first-time 'tenders Patrick Lalime and Marty Turco.

Then it happened. The crowd rose in unison, roaring its approval as the announcement blared that a shootout would decide the proceedings. No one sat as each breakaway attempt in the shootout elicited another raucous ovation. Not even Paul Kariya's clinching goal for the West gave occasion to sit. More satisfied standing applause followed for all the participants -- acknowledgement of what they’d witnessed and been allowed to share.

Quickly a ceremony followed announcing Heatley's game MVP honor, followed by another round of adulatory applause -- this time for the 22-year-old Thrashers sophomore who had a memorable day on the pond. Finally, the proceedings concluded and a satiated sold-out crowd went home with magical memories of their own.

So, hardly extinct is this accused-as-crass-excuse-to-convene exhibition. On the contrary, the players welcomed the format reverting back to a conference clash, as teammates and linemates suiting up together helped the continuity and chemistry. The infusion of youthful exuberance helped this affair immensely as well, as 14 first-time participants added energy and excitement to the proceedings. And the finale and finality of a shootout was hard to ignore as a dramatic denouement.

If ever there was a living, breathing example of a concept that would be embraced, the shootout after the 4-on-4 OT is it. Why not, then, a shootout following a tied OT in the regular season? The single point garnered in the standings already protects the 60-minute effort of each team.

While points in the standings and an All-Star Game are mutually exclusive, the fans' response to the breathtaking action proved a point, as they used the occasion as a forum to express their approval. After all, aren't all the games for the fans?

This one surely was.

Darren Eliot, a former NHL goaltender, is a hockey analyst for CNNSI.com.

 

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