All-Star game could use some cold weather

Meghan Sheffield
Meghan Sheffield

The Winter Classic, this year’s outdoor NHL game held in Buffalo on New Year’s Day between the Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins, drew more than 71, 000 fans to the outdoor stadium.

Amidst a media frenzy and much nostalgic writing about shinny games gone by, a vintage-clad Sidney Crosby cut through a few inches of snow to get a game-winning puck between Sabres goalie Ryan Miller’s pads.

Regardless of The Kid’s heroics or even the final outcome of the game, the story had already been written. The mythology, inspired by something as simple as taking the game to a stadium with no roof, was everywhere.

Players, coaches, fans and writers alike were remembering and rhapsodizing about their own days on the back pond, taking a newfound interest in the climatic requirements of the game—ice conditions, outdoor temperature and who would be wearing a toque over his helmet.

The only other single game that creates that kind of hoopla is coming up this weekend—the All-Star game.

Both the All-Star game and the outdoor games have presented the league with much-needed opportunities for media coverage—especially in the face of a dwindling American audience and reluctant broadcasters—and give fans and players the opportunity to break out of the tedium of the regular season schedule.

The All-Star game has failed to live up its potential in recent years, however, as many high-profile stars—such as Roberto Luongo and Martin Brodeur, the two goalies selected as starters by fan voting this year—have realized its low profile and decided to take a pass on the game to spend time with their families.

Several other stars will also miss this weekend’s game with injuries, drastically decreasing both the calibre of play and the spectacle of the match.

Imagine combining these two events—marrying the nostalgia and heart behind the outdoor game and the glory of the greats that make the All-Star game such a draw.

Combining the two feel-good hockey events of the season gets even better if all the pretensions around conferences and positions are thrown out the window, and the big boys play like the little ones do—good, old-fashioned shinny. Just like the Gatorade commercial, Crosby would throw his stick on the pile at centre ice, alongside Daniel Alfredsson and Rick Nash. Or teams could draw jerseys—making things as simple as red shirts vs. blue shirts—and auction the leftovers for charity.

You might end up with a line-up of defencemen as forwards, or Lecavalier and Iginla playing defence together, and that’s okay. In fact, that’s the point—this game isn’t about strategy, it’s about playing hard.

In addition to the passionate mythology of hockey and its roots, combining the two has more concrete benefits as well: the outdoor game would no longer be a consideration in the regular season standings, eliminating any concerns about outdoor variables affecting the top eight.

This is the way great athletes are meant to play—with the trimmings of the league pared away, love of the game, true athleticism and perhaps a little sportsmanship are free to reign the ice. If nothing else, the promise of a good game of pond hockey might have convinced a few stars to actually make it to this weekend’s game in Atlanta.

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