I know that I'm one of the 11 remaining people who still cares about the NHL, so most of this will be news to most of you, and that's what I strive for...informing and entertaining my peeps. Everybody plays fantasy sports nowadays. That's no secret. Evidently the NHL brass likes fantasy hockey so much, they've decided that instead of having an actual All-Star Game this season, they're going to have what amounts to a game between to real-life fantasy teams. Instead of Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference, they're going to select 42 all-stars (regardless of conference), then have the all-stars pick the two captains. The captains will then do a basic schoolyard pick 'em to determine the teams. Each team has to have three goalies, six defensemen and 12 forwards, but the captains can form the team in any order they want. The fans still pick the starters, but only six total, even though 12 people start the game.
Since they're the two biggest names in the sport, we'll just arbitrarily say Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin are picked as the captains. Even though their teams are both in the Eastern Conference, it would be Team Crosby vs. Team Ovechkin. Crosby picks first and takes Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo. Trying to score points with the home fans, Ovechkin takes Carolina forward Eric Staal, etc. Am I the only person who thinks this is a dumb idea?
Hockey fans are notorious for their love of beer, and it sounds like two guys in the NHL offices had a few while they were conducting their fantasy draft, said "Hey, this would be a cool idea for the All-Star Game," and somehow managed to convince enough people that it was actually a good idea. It's not. For starters, the game's in Raleigh. That has nothing to do with why this format's stupid, but it just had to be said. The last All-Star Game was in Montreal and it was awesome! Here's why this format's dumb:
1. It's confusing. I'm a Rangers fan, thus I'd be an East fan in the All-Star Game, just like I always root for the AL in the baseball All-Star Game (which is by far the best of the four). But what if Chris Drury and Henrik Lundqvist end up on different teams? Exactly.
2. The whole point of the All-Star Game is to get the chance to see guys like Crosby and Ovechkin play together (remember Gretzky's final season when he, Lemieux and Messier played together for a shift?). I think it's safe to say that it'll be virtually impossible for them to end up on the same team in this game.
3. How's that last guy picked going to feel? "You're an All-Star, but you're not as good as all the other All-Stars." As a guy who was often picked last in gym I can tell you, it sucks.
The skills competition is the best part of the NHL All-Star Game, so fortunately they're not messing with that, but is completely changing the All-Star Game every year really the best idea? Remember that dumb North America vs. The World format? How'd that turn out? Oh, that's right, you realized it was stupid after a few years and switched it back to East vs. West. I have a feeling that's what's going to happen again. As the lowest rated of the four major leagues, the NHL probably thinks this is a way to draw more viewers to its All-Star Game, but I can see this blowing up in their faces. Remember, this is a league that doesn't have an All-Star Game in Olympic years anyway (which is a good idea, since Olympic hockey is the best thing for the sport), so it's been two years since there's been one. Come to think of it, I guess confusing people with this stupid new format was the NHL's way of reminding people that they actually do still have an All-Star Game, even if the people in the city hosting it don't care. (Note to Gary Bettman, stop having the southern teams host the All-Star Game! Have it in cities where people actually care about hockey!)
In other Canadian sports, the CFL playoffs get underway this weekend with Toronto visiting Hamilton in the East Semi-final (that's the way they spell it up north) and the BC Lions heading to Regina to play the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the West Semi-final (Regina, Saskatchewan-greatest city name on Earth). The winners play Montreal and Calgary next week, and the winners of those two games play for the Grey Cup on Nov. 28. If you've never seen it, Canadian football is awesome (three downs, lots of passing, 12 guys on the field, one point for a touchback, 110-yard field). I wouldn't know this had I never lived in Buffalo, but it's worth watching if you manage to find what channel the games are on in the U.S. And since Joe Brackets is my name, I've gotta make a pick, so I'm going to take the Stampeders (Calgary) over the Tiger-Cats (Hamilton).
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