In theory, the All Star Game should be exciting. The top 48
players at their positons, going head to head, for the right to claim the title
“best of the best”, the game should be competitive. But in reality, the All
Star game is an exhibition game put on by the league to increase revenue. The
game itself can be quite boring with little competitiveness. When I was
younger, it was an event I did not want to miss, and now I may check out the
highlights if I happen to be busy during the game. When the league decided to
have a fantasy draft to decide the teams, they had my interest. After many
years of doing my own fantasy drafts with online pools as well as the franchise
mode, this twist was new and fun. Did it make the game anymore exciting? Maybe,
but the competitiveness or the game was still about the same. Now I’m not sure
there is much you can do to the game itself to change it, without going super gimmicky
or make the game worth something, like in baseball, which I think it is safe to
say, no one agrees is a good idea.
This may check the box off for being gimmicky, but what if
the All Star Game became an All Star Tournament.
Make the games 3 on 3 with a 10 minute running clock. With 6
teams, there would be no reason to add more players than 48 already
selected. Each Goalie could be the
captain of their team and make the selections in the same draft format the
league currently use. They would be required to draft 4 forwards, 2 defencemen
and one rookie.
Each team could play a 3 game mini round robin with the top
2 teams earning a bye into the semi-finals while the bottom 4 play the extra
game to see who moves on. With up to 6
games, I think the competitiveness would come out. Being 3 on 3, the creativeness
should come out too. A lot of scoring changes, a lot of big saves.
Rather than just cheering for whatever team your hometown
player was on (although they still might), I could see fans jumping on board
with one or two of the teams and really get behind them.
My concerns however are how it would look on TV. How would
the transition be between games as well as to when the Zamboni comes out to
resurface the ice. I guess that can be left in the hands of those who make the
big bucks. Speaking of money, instead of 2 All Star Jerseys, there would be 6.
After the Winter Classic between Detroit and Toronto, we know that there is no
need for a white jersey.
I think the tournament would be a big success. Teams would get more competitive the more games they played. 3 on 3 would make for the game to be quick and entertaining, something that seems to be lacking in previous All Star Games.
