Nhl All Star Game

How The Nhl All-stars Shined In L.a. In 1981 And 2002

... his rookie season as a player with the franchise at the time. “Looking back, especially after having two All-Star games now in L. A. since then, that one in ’81 almost seems kind of small-town. It really just shows how far all this has come – shutting down the league for a long stretch is more a celebration of the entire NHL instead of just the All-Stars.”. Here is a look at how the two previous L. A.-based (there has not been one yet in Anaheim) All-Star events played out. FEB. 10, 1981: THE FORUM. The 33 rd edition of the game was the first time the league ventured to the U. S. West Coast – it had been in Vancouver in 1977 – and this was somewhat new territory. But Jerry Buss, who had taken the Kings ownership from Jack Kent Cooke less than two years prior, again had the vision to get the spotlight turned on the city. As much ...

Sundin's Truck Stolen, Other Maple Leafs-related All-star Moments

... a show of patriotism, but the Super Bowl was a week away, baseball was idle and no basketball games were up. The nationally televised ASG from Chicago Stadium became the perfect theatre. “Up to then, I had not been very political,” Damphousse said. “But it was important to show at that time that terror could not win and that freedom couldn’t be stopped. The league had talked about cancelling the game, but the players wanted to go on, the same way pro sports kept playing after 9/11. It became the most amazing experience.”. The NHL video feed went to all armed forces and the already rabid fans in noisy Chicago Stadium nearly blew the roof off during the anthems. With 18,472 fans yelling their lungs out and madly waving flags, the ‘Madhouse on Madison’ shook to its foundations, the glass at ice level vibrating. “It was always loud in there when the Leafs played, but this was unbelievable,” Damphousse said. “When the singer started their anthem ...

Wayne Gretzky As An All-star Coach A Great Move For Nhl

... Getty Images). Wayne Gretzky’s selection as John Tortorella’s replacement as coach of the Metropolitan All-Star team shows that quality theater can be born as easily by happenstance as careful planning. Tortorella pulled out of the All-Star game because he needed to take care of his deployed Army Ranger son’s ailing pit bull. Wayne Gretzky: To be NHL's best, Connor Mc David must dethrone Sidney Crosby. As changes go, this is a Great One. This gives the NHL an opportunity to further celebrate Gretzky’s return to the spotlight and his importance to Southern California hockey. Anticipate a sustained, thunderous ovation when Gretzky is introduced Sunday as the Metropolitan coach. NBC will find time to interview him during the game. "It seemed like the sensible, logical choice," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. "And we are thrilled that he was happy to do it.". Gretzky's return to ...

Bieber, Young Guys Make An Impression

... first in the draft by the Edmonton Oilers in 2015 and who leads the NHL scoring race. In target shooting, both Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Mc David hit four targets on five shots, the crowd noise rising as each target disintegrated. For fun, though, the old man (OK, he's just 29), Sidney Crosby , went 4-for-4 to win the competition and later scored in the shootout as the Atlantic Division won the overall skills competition. Mc David did go on to win the fastest skater race, although he could not best the record set a year ago by Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings. Justin Bieber hung around with some guy named Wayne Gretzky after the celebrity game. Andrew D. Bernstein/NHLI via Getty Images. Weber was better: Different jersey, same result for Shea Weber , who defended his fastest-shot title with a 102.8 mph slap shot, although it wasn't close to the Zdeno ...

All-star Game Could Lead To Interesting Lineups

... it could lead to some interesting lineup decisions this week. Teams could elect to sit players who are injured to give them extra rest, even though they might try to play through it under normal circumstances. Is Evgeni Malkin one of those players, or is his injury more severe? It has already been announced that Malkin won’t play Thursday, and he won’t participate in the All-Star game. The Penguins have announced that his lower-body injury will be further evaluated after the break, which indicates that the injury may be more than a day-to-day situation. Fantasy owners will need to play it cautious with their lineups next week. Semyon Varlamov is also out through the break, and the question should be — does it really matter? The Avalanche have been awful this season, so it’s not like he was helping you in any goaltending category anyway. His backup, Calvin Pickard, isn’t the answer either. Losing Tyson Barrie and Erik Johnson, possibly their two best defenders, to injured reserve doesn’t help matters any either. It’s just time to move ...

From Undrafted Goalie To Nhl All-star

... Oilers in the third period of their NHL game at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, January 26, 2017. (Josie Lepe/Bay Area News Group). San Jose Sharks goaltender Martin Jones (31) takes the ice against the Anaheim Ducks in first period of their NHL game at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, October 25, 2016. (Josie Lepe/Bay Area News Group). San Jose Sharks goaltender Martin Jones (31) makes a save against the Edmonton Oilers in the second period of their NHL game at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, January 26, 2017. (Josie Lepe/Bay Area News Group). San Jose Sharks goaltender Martin Jones (31) makes a save against the Edmonton Oilers' Milan Lucic (27) in the second period of their NHL game at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, January 26, 2017. (Josie Lepe/Bay Area News Group). San Jose Sharks center Joe Pavelski (8) talks with goalie Martin Jones (31) after Colorado Avalanche center Mikhail Grigorenko (25) scores in the second period at SAP Center Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017, in San ...

How The Nhl All-star Game Will Work

... Elliott Contact Reporter. The NHL All-Star game, which will be played as a three-on-three mini-tournament Sunday at Staples Center, has had more formats over the years than the average NHL game has goals. For most of the first two decades, the game was played before the season and matched the previous season’s Stanley Cup winner against a team of all-stars from other teams. The 1967 expansion led to a shift to West vs. East and to playing the game at mid-season. Other years, the teams were Wales vs. Campbell, then the names of the conferences. Later came the North American stars vs. World stars, and teams named after distinguished players, such as the Team Toews vs. Team Foligno game in Columbus in 2015. Alas, Team Toews never got to defend its title because that format was scrapped, too. In Olympic years, there’s no All-Star game. Eager to revive interest in the game — and to capitalize on the excitement generated during three-on-three overtime — the NHL made a radical change at last season’s game in Nashville by switching to a division-based mini-tournament. It was a critical and ...

Remembering The 1998 Nhl All-star Game In Vancouver

... to the Winter Olympic games in Nagano the following month. Sensing an effort to market the game globally, the league instituted an All-Star Game format that sought to create a sense of rivalry in the hopes that the players would actually give a damn about the All-Star Game for once. Introducing: Team North American (V. 1.0) and Team World. Embed from Getty Images. The league may have been well-intentioned with the international spin, but the manufactured national pride never really kicked in for the players. They were content to play a half-speed, no-hitting game with plenty of scoring and very little in the way of actual competition. In other words, a standard NHL All-Star Game, but at least the teams had snazzy new uniforms …. Sadly, the only thing resembling an international incident at the first edition of Team North America versus Team World was Bryan Adams’ botched rendition of ‘O Canada.’. Some Interesting Inclusions. All-Star Game rosters are a bit of a sham. Often players beg out of being included. Sometimes worthy players are snubbed, while others are invited simply as a courtesy to the team’s fanbase. Without dissecting Team North America and Team World too ...

Nhl All Star Skills Competition 2017

... The Atlantic Division is Karlsson, Trocheck, and Okposo shooting from Hedman, Nielsen passing, Marchand on puck control, Matthews stick handling, and Price shooting goals. Metropolitan is Jones, Ovechkin, and Simmonds shooting passes from Mc Donagh. Tavares is on passing, Faulk is on puck control, Crosby is stick handling, and Holtby on goalie goals. Four Line Challenge. This involves four members of each team shooting from progressively farther away, trying to hit targets in the corner of the net or 5-hole. Each shooter gets two shots. The teams are. Atlantic: Kucherov, Karlsson, Trocheck, Weber. Metropolitan: Mc Donagh, Simmonds, Hall, Jones. Central: Suter, Seguin, Subban, Mac Kinnon. Pacific: Pavelski, Burns, Kesler, Horvat. Accuracy Shooting. This event pits two shooters from each team against each other. They will be at opposite sides of the rink ...

Analyzing Each Divisional Roster

... that the other divisions possess, but it will look to rookie Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Brad Marchand of the Bruins up front. Matthews has been having a remarkable rookie year as last year's No. 1 draft choice. He has 23 goals and 16 assists, and five of his goals have been game-winners. The edgy Marchand has a team-leading 21 goals for the Bruins along with 28 assists, while Kucherov has lit the lamp 19 times and has 25 assists. Seven of Kucherov's goals have come on the power play. While the forwards may lack offensive punch, the defensemen do not. Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators is a fast, free-wheeling skater who can score from anywhere inside the blue line, and Montreal's Shea Weber has a cannon for a slap shot. Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman is also a dangerous player who has seven ...