All-Star Game? All-Star Lame.

Published in The Pioneer on Feb. 2, 2012 during my one-week tenure as editor.

What is an NHL All-Star?

In the world of sports, an all-star is someone who exemplifies the attitude and the skill level to perform at the top of his or her sport.

What’s an all-star game?

According to the NHL, it’s getting a bunch of guys who are paid enormous amounts of money to play a non-competitive game of shinny hockey.

Year after year, the all-star games become less and less interesting for fans. It might be because we’re getting older, but it’s probably because the non-competitive game itself is getting old.

The NHL does deserve some credit. They’ve been trying to improve the game for years. Most changes have been unsuccessful minor tweaks, but it’s the major changes that have hit the nail on the head.

For instance, back in 1990 they introduced the SuperSkills Competition. Today, the competition proves to be far more fascinating than the game it precedes. 

More recently, the NHL has changed the format on how the two teams are formed. Teams are no longer formed by the conference they represent, but rather chosen by a fantasy draft involving two captains, much like a game of shinny hockey on the pond.

The only downfall to the draft is that for a lot of fans, waiting to see who was picked last has probably become the most nail-biting part of the entire weekend.

It’s no secret something needs to change. It’s no wonder the Winter Classic, a regular-season game played outdoors, has surpassed the all-star game in popularity and it’s only been around for five years.

In fact, according to an ESPN article, ticket sales for the recent all-star game are about 50 percent cheaper than tickets to the Winter Classic, which was held on Jan. 2.

There have been a few suggestions surrounding the all-star game. Don Cherry gave his two cents during Coach’s Corner on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, suggesting the game be played outdoors and teams be chosen by the classic “stick toss.”

It’s true, combining the two events could prove interesting, but it won’t change the tempo of the game, and it won’t be long before the novelty runs out.

The bottom line is that the NHL needs to make the game more competitive. Sure, it’s nice to watch a player deke his way through a defenceman who’s not really trying and score a highlight-reel goal on a goalie who’s not really trying. But fans want to see competition.

The NHL should take a page from Major League Baseball. The MLB All-Star Game pits the American League against the National League with the winner getting home field advantage for the World Series.

The format gives players something to play for and makes the game competitive, which is exactly what fans want to see.

If these players are considered all-stars, then the league should let them play the game like all-stars. There’s enough shinny hockey being played at any local arena.

From East To East

Published in The Pioneer Jan. 19, 2011

Ever heard of the East Coast bias? Sport leagues and media outlets are often accused of it, and often that’s because it exists.

It’s no secret, really. The concept involves organizations such as the National Hockey League and its media outlets having biased viewpoints in favour of eastern teams.

In a world where the dollar reigns supreme, the bias is almost justifiable.

There are a few variables that lead to this inequality, one of them being that the NHL is simply trying to make as much money as possible.

From the NHL’s standpoint, directing most of the attention to the eastern teams makes sense. More teams mean more fans, and more fans means more money.

Only eight of the 30 teams in the NHL lie in the west. With Winnipeg and Dallas being right in the middle, that leaves 20 teams in the east.

What the league’s commissioner, Gary Bettman, seemingly fails to recognize is that the western teams, specifically Canadian teams — the Oilers, Flames and Canucks — are like lotto tickets that always have the right numbers, a cash guarantee.

Bettman isn’t the only one who’s guilty of the bias — some western fans are also upset with how their teams have been represented in the media.

Media outlets such as NHL.com, the league’s official website, direct most of their attention towards eastern teams for the same reasons the NHL does — the fans.

For example, if it were up to the NHL.com analysts, the All-Star Game would be heavy with eastern players. One day prior to the actual selection for the All-Star Game, the analysts released their version of the roster and 61 per cent of it consisted of players representing eastern teams, including nine of their 12 selected defencemen.

It doesn’t stop with giving eastern teams more attention. Catering to the fans is understandable, but questions have been raised as to whether the NHL is swinging games to make them more entertaining.

John Tortorella, the coach of the New York Rangers was recently fined for accusations made toward the NHL and its referee’s for trying to extend the Winter Classic into overtime for entertainment purposes.

Tortorella later apologized and retracted those accusations but was still given a fine worth $30,000.

Despite what Bettman seems to think, the NHL’s focus should be on building the presence and appreciation for hockey in North America, not sacrificing the integrity of the NHL to make a good buck.

With the integrity of a national sports league in question, it might be time for the NHL to step back and evaluate its priorities.