All Star Game, School yard rules?

[Mark Des Cotes]

So what do you guys think of the new All Star game set up? It's no longer going to be East vs. West. Instead they're going to pick two captains and they will each draft their teams (a la school yard method) from a pool of 42 players. According to TSN the "draft" will take place on January 28th, 2 days before the actual game. I wonder if the last guy picked will feel just as bad as the nerd in the school yard did.

Here's the link. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=543059

I'm not too keen on this new set up. My brother lives in Vancouver and we've always had a running East vs. West bet between us.

What's everyone's opinion about this?

[Glenn_Austen]

I prefer the Eat/West format, however, I am just not a huge fan of all star games anyway - not real, don't count, players just want to avoid injury and defense goes out the window. I see them as just a revenue/publicity/hype generating scheme as opposed to what is should be - a contest that pits the most skilled against one another in a contest that actually means something.

How is that for a rant?

[Chris_Savard]

The current concept was rather boring and uninspiring....worth a shot to tinker with it and see if this works. The game is all about fun anyway...so who knows, this may be good. I am open to seeing how it plays out. When the shootout first came in, many people thought it was hokey, but it has proven to be a good addition.

[Dean Eastman]

In my opinion, as a kid, I always loved watching my favourite players scoring pretty goals and turning hockey scores into football type scores.
In my adult years, I have fallen away from the all star game as i have found it uninspiring and pretty much meaningless. I still will on occasion watch some of the skills competition if my free time allows for it.

Switching to this new format for selecting teams, I am opposed to it. While I do somewhat agree with Chris, the league should look at tinkering with the current format but as it is currently proposed, what happens say for example if Alex Ovechkin is made captain and is the one in charge of making the selections--will we see an all east vs west matchup (ie. Russian players, those likely who are AO's closest comrades versus other North American players). Or will AO select Sidney Crosby and choose based on talent first and affiliation second...

Who's to say?

[Chris_Savard]

Its an All-Star game and really shouldnt be taken too seriously. Who cares who wins, who cares who is on what team. At the end of the day, it is neat to see all the Stars together and on the same ice. I think the NHL is right to have some fun with it and just let it roll