How does the NHL all-star game appeal to anyone?

[ArgoRavi]

I know that everyone's personal tastes are different but I can't fathom how so many people tune into the joke that is the NHL all-star weekend. I just tuned into the skills competition for a few minutes and had to turn away after watching players wearing a Superman cape and an Ottawa 67s jersey doing tricks on breakaways against goalies who weren't even trying to stop them (what in the hell is Carey Price doing at the all-star game anyway?). Last night, I saw a CJOH reporter tell a national audience on CTV that hosting the all-star game for Ottawa is like hosting a Grey Cup "times two or three". Really??? This is two to three times better than a national football championship???

Until about the mid 1980s, I enjoyed watching the NHL all-star game and the players actually gave it a decent effort and put on an entertaining enough game more often than not. Then by about 1990 the game became a complete joke although a skills competition was added which wasn't too bad in its early days (no Superman capes, Ottawa 67s jerseys or players doing comedy acts as was the case tonight). Now, the game is still a joke involving two teams who have no identity and the skills competition IMO is completely unwatchable. And this is two to three times better than a Grey Cup? Are the sports tastes of Canadians really that depressing? I just do not get it. Can someone please explain the appeal to me of this event?

[Will]

It looks like someone is taking their cue from the NBA slam dunk competition. Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic wore a Superman cape for that event and now it appears that someone in the NHL is copying from that. It turns the thing into a joke because it became more about the cape rather than the skills that were attempting to be shown off by Howard. Why exactly is getting the NHL all-star game so meaningful for Ottawa? I know they have a bit of an inferiority complex in Ottawa when it comes to the Senators. They're a franchise stuck smack dab in the middle of the two largest fan bases in the league and their arena shows it when the Maple Leafs or Canadiens come to town.

I don't watch the game itself, but it really does no harm to me in any sense. It is a given that there wouldn't be any contact in this game, but can they at least pretend that they're trying to play defense. Sure you want an opportunity for the forwards to show off their skills and try to excite the crowd a little, but why should the defensive players chosen for the game take a back seat? I don't know if it's a matter of Canadian sports tastes being that depressing. The CJOH made those comments certainly, but that doesn't mean it is an accurate assessment by any means.

[ArgoRavi]

Even when I think of the all-star games that were played during most of the 1980s, there wasn't much hitting but they at least tried to play defence. Some of the scores that I can recall from that decade were 6-3, 4-1, 4-2, 7-6, 4-3 and 9-5. Those are reasonable hockey scores IMO. By the 1990s, we were getting crap like 16-6 and scores that you simply would not get in any other hockey game because nobody even tried to play defence anymore.

[matchuk]

i think any all star game in any league is a total joke....i must admit i dont mind the 3point shootout cuz guys actually need to try and the slam dumk competition is fun to watch sometimes...with hockey i really only watch the hardest shot....

and cmon in baseball hr derby? yeah, im real impressed watching prince fielder hit 20 home runs off a pitching coach whos lobbing in the pitches right down the middle

[1argoholic]

I won a trip to the 88 or 89 All Star Game in Pitt and my cousin and I had a blast. Back then it was basically just the game. Mario had a huge game a home and won a car. I filled out a ballot at Varsity Arena during the CIS Nations Hockey final. I was pumped when I got the call but when I heard Pitt that excitement dropped a wee bit. One very classic moment I'll never forget was on the shuttle bus ride to the hotel from the airport when we got talking to the driver. When he heard we were from Canada he asked the typical stupid question. Do you know Norm from Saskatchewan. Unreal how stupid some Americans can be.

[DanTheFan]

I'm not that interested in most all-star things for any sport, though I recognize it as an honour and privilege for a player to be named an All-Star. I didn't watch the Super Skills last night, but caught the highlights on Sportsnet this morning. That breakaway challenge is as lame as recent dunk contests have been for the NBA if not worse. From what I saw, players were putting on much more impressive moves in that other shootout contest. And with the increased stick technology, the hardest shot contest is a bit like corking a baseball bat. Does Iafrate have the record for shot with a wood stick still, or does that record exist by someone else outside of the All-Star game?

[argolio]

All-star games appealed to me when I was a kid. Over time they've become a waste of time and space.