from Nicholas J. Cotsonika of the NHL's website,

What do you remember about watching the All-Star Game as a kid?

“I didn’t really care about the score. I don’t remember those details. I remember the introductions. I remember the spectacle. I remember seeing guys on the Montreal Canadiens on the same team as guys from the Boston Bruins. You’d see Guy Lafleur passing the puck to Bobby Orr, you know? And it just seemed really special.

“When Steve Yzerman played his first All-Star Game, it was 1984. He was an 18-year-old rookie. I had just turned 15. I remember Yzerman getting interviewed on TV, and the reporter said something like, ‘Did you have some fun last night with the guys?’ And he said something like, ‘No, I had a nice dinner with my family, and then I got to bed early, because I wanted to feel good today.’ And my dad said, ‘Did you hear that? That’s what it takes.’ It’s funny. I later became one of Steve’s dinner companions for most road trips when we played together for the Detroit Red Wings.”

What do you remember most from 2000?

“It was North America versus the World. About six minutes into the first period, Steve Yzerman and I had a 2-on-1 against our Red Wings teammate Nicklas Lidstrom. One of us tried to sauce the puck past Nick. We knew from games and practices that was kind of an impossible task. Only Nick could make it look so casual and easy, knocking it out of the air and transitioning the other way. Sure enough, Nick knocked it down, transitioned the other way and might even have looked back over his shoulder at us too, like, ‘You idiots.’ I think Steve and I got back to the bench, and we both said, ‘What were we thinking?’”

more