Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

The New All-Star Game Format

11/18/2015 at 11:05am EST

from Bob McKenzie of TSN,

Can the NHL All-Star Game be saved?

We will find out soon enough.

The All-Star Game isn’t until Jan. 31 in Nashville, but the NHL is expected to announce some sweeping changes to the format on Wednesday, moving from the traditional East vs. West 5-on-5, 60-minute game to a trio of 20-minute mini-games featuring four divisional all-star teams playing 3-on-3 hockey.

There’s bound to be spirited debate on the pros and cons of the format change, but we should all be able to agree on this: The NHL All-Star Game itself – not to be confused with the overall All-Star Weekend, which is always a pretty good party and spectacle wherever it’s being staged – is badly broken.

The game has become unwatchable. It’s not even good shinny. At some point, the players stopped trying. No one ever expected them to sacrifice their bodies in a meaningless game but it has gotten to the point where they don’t even go through the motions any more. It’s painful to watch, so why bother?

The 3-on-3 format in Nashville effectively becomes the Last Chance Saloon for the NHL All-Star Game.

As best we can tell, it’s going to look like this:

continued

The 2011 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft format, which will continue to include fan balloting procedures, contains the following new features:

•    Fans will continue to play the lead role in the selection of All-Stars when 2011 NHL All-Star Fan Balloting presented by XM launches on Monday, Nov. 15. The All-Star Balloting process, which is entirely digital for the fourth consecutive game, runs through Jan. 3.
•    From a group of 100 players on the ballot, fans will vote for their top six All-Stars by position without regard to the Conference in which the player plays. Fans will also have the ability to write-in a player of their choice.
•    The three forwards, two defensemen and one goalie receiving the most votes will be named the first NHL All-Stars.
•    The remaining 36 All-Stars will be named by the NHL Hockey Operations Department for a total of 42 All-Star players (3 goalies, 6 defensemen and 12 forwards per team).
•    Following the selection of the All-Stars, NHL Hockey Operations will designate 12 NHL rookies to participate in the Honda NHL SuperSkills on Saturday, January 29 for a total of 54 NHL players taking part in All-Star weekend.
•    After the 42 NHL All-Stars have been selected, two captains will be chosen per team by the players.
•    On Friday, January 28, 2011, a draft event will be held in Raleigh with all 54 NHL players (42 All-Stars and 12 rookies) during which the captains will draft the remaining members of their respective teams.
•    First selection in the draft will be determined by coin flip and selections will continue on an alternating basis.
•    Each team will be required to select three goalies, six defensemen and 12 forwards in any order they choose.
•    After the selection of the All-Star game rosters, the captains will select among the 12 rookies to fill out the rosters for the Honda NHL SuperSkills.
•    Each team will feature six rookies participating in various skills competitions.
•    Teams will participate in six different skills, including NHL Fastest Skater, NHL Breakaway Challenge, Accuracy Shooting, Skills Challenge Relay, NHL Hardest Shot and the NHL Elimination Shoot Out.

Further information on the 2011 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft, will be announced at a later date.

The 2011 NHL All-Star Game presented by Discover will mark the first time Carolina has hosted NHL All-Star activities. The League’s mid-season spectacular will take place Saturday, January 29 and Sunday, January 30 and will include Honda NHL SuperSkills and the 58th NHL All-Star Game presented by Discover at RBC Center. Live television coverage of both nights will be provided by VERSUS in the U.S. and CBC and RDS in Canada. The Honda SuperSkills will begin at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, and the 2011 NHL All-Star Game presented by Discover will start at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday.

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About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

Email Paul anytime at [email protected]

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