Images of Nick Turchiaro-Imagn
Attention, passion and effort We see the confrontation of the 4 NHL nations is quite refreshing.
There was simply not enough of all this during the recent Ligue Star Match weekends.
There was a time when the game of the stars meant something special, but it doesn’t happen, if not at all. Now that the NHL has found an event that has more connection with fans and players, it’s time to go from a gadget game.
When this writer grew up in the late 1970s and early 1980s, you could see why the NHL stars game was an unmissable event. There was no satellite television at that time, so one of the rare chances that fans could see players from another NHL conference was really exciting.
Because there was no participation in the NHL in the Olympic Games at the time, there were no dream teammates set up elsewhere, but the stars match. It was unique and exotic, and it led to achievements, as Wayne Gretzky marking four goals in the third period in 1983 To win his first of the three MVP Match of Star MVPs in career.
However, slowly but surely, the NHL stars’ play has lost its brilliance. Over time, we have familiar with each best player in the league. The players have changed their teams with more frequencies, and high -level events have seen dream collaborations, such as Gretzky and Mario Lemieux to associate to make unforgettable memories in the 1987 Canada Cup. Then, in 1996, the Hockey World Cup was born, offering fans a different opportunity to see a real tournament of best tour. And in 1998, the NHL gave the green light to Olympic participation.
Finally, the event does not shine as before. While NHL stars must endure monotonous interviews with journalists and star games that do not have a real competitive fire, less talented NHL players will be able to go on vacation for the break and rest in the ‘Spirit and bodies.
This is a very necessary respite, especially when the NHL regular seasonal calendar has become rather compressed, and the speed of sport leads to all kinds of injuries.
It was not surprising while the right winger of Tampa Bay Lightning, Nikita Kucherov, seemed to have draws teeth during the skill competition in Toronto in 2024. Other players came to the defense of Kucherov By saying that he had no chance of winning his challenge after a first mistake, but it was clear that there was not much effort.
The game of stars also has a distinct lack of physics. Hockey fans want to see the passion and sacrifice of their favorite players, but these players know that their main commitment is to their NHL team, not to an All-Star game which does not give them the reward that Victory of the Stanley Cup made. They will not be understandable the bodycheck or will not try to block a photo accordingly, creating another disconnection between the product that fans want to see and the product they see.
As we can see this week, having the chance to represent their country during the confrontation of the 4 nations and during the Hockey World Cup in 2028 resonates much more with the players than an appearance in the star match. You could see him in the first 4 games of the 4 nations this week – there was a reader and the urgency in their game.
Ending the stars game should not be a bad thing. The evolution of NHL. The Association of League and NHL players plans to hold a hockey world cup every four years with the Olympic Games that take place between the two. There could be a better international hockey every two years.
From this point of view, the league should consider withdrawing the break from mid-season in years without international hockey competition. They could distribute the regular season a little more so that all players can recover better between the matches, further improve the action. When the World Cup or the Olympic Games arrive, the media is even greater.
Of course, there is still one case to organize a weekend of stars. Ryan Kennedy, Hockey News, said that the innovation of the skills competition had been interesting to watch, and this gives players who are not in international competitions a chance to appear during a renowned event and Show their skills.
With this, the NHL could consider holding a skills competition the day before a hockey world cup, for example. But whatever happens, hockey fans hope that any All-Star event is closer to the type of action in progress in the confrontation of the 4 nations.
Let us remember the genesis of the star game when it became an annual tradition from 1947-1948. The format at that time – in the original era of the six – was that the champions of the reigning cup played against a group of players from the other five teams in the League. But over time, it has changed, and no one complained about evolution. The change was necessary and embraced, and this same attitude should be the way we look at where the game of stars is located today.
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