It is that time of the NHL season again.
For crappy teams? No.
For another John Tortorella meltdown? Hilarious, but no.
It is time for that monstrosity known as the All-Star Game. You know, that thing where a bunch of players bore you to death with games and silly antics. Or, they like to show off for one another and the fans.
Have you or a loved one ever been bored to death by an All-Star Game? If so, while you might not be entitled to any compensation, you certainly can avoid watching it. Unless you are like Tortorella and just do not care one iota about it. So without any further ado, here are several hot takes regarding the NHL All-Star Game.
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Hot Take #1: No Teams for Defensemen
While the idea of it is fair, each team having one player chosen to be on a divisional team is still not a great idea. Especially if there is no balance between forwards and defensemen, you might argue forwards are more popular and/or have a draw since they are usually the goal-makers. As of the posting of this article, there are 32 players on four teams. There will be an additional 12 players, three per team, that will be chosen by votes from the fans. Hopefully, the fans will do a better job of getting a few more defensemen on the teams.
Metropolitan
The Metropolitan team has no defensemen at all, just seven forwards and a goalie. So do all the defensemen suck, or does the NHL just care about the brand?
Atlantic
The Atlantic team is just like the Metro. No defensemen at all. Seven forwards and a goalie are all the NHL could come up with.
Does this mean the Eastern Conference has an aversion to defensemen? Or are simply more well-known and popular players that are forwards? Maybe the answer is somewhere in between. Who knows.
Central
The Central team appears to be the most balanced in terms of the forwards and defensemen ratio. Although, when you have someone like Cale Makar, they deserve to be on the team. It makes you wonder even more about the Eastern Conference teams.
Pacific
With only one defenseman, the Pacific team is more like a who’s who of forwards. But honestly, who really cares about the Pacific Division? Perhaps the fans will care more and add at least one more defenseman to the team.
Hot Take #2: Alex Ovechkin Will Win Hardest Shot
Shocking, right? Looking at the list of players, there might be a few who will come close. However, Ovechkin has a reasonably good chance of breaking 100mph. Perhaps if there were more defensemen…
Hot Take #3: No One Cares
The NHL will tell you that it is giving the fans what they want and attempting to reach those who are casual viewers or do not watch hockey. In reality, die-hard hockey fans do not care about the game or the skills competition. Depending on how you look at it, it is merely a distraction or detraction from the season. The NHL could do so much more to reach the not-so-casual viewer. More marketing would also be great, along with more ways of watching games at home. Blackouts are stupid, especially if a person “lives” in a blackout area but nowhere close to the arena. Do you think that is going to attract more fans?
If the NHL does draw new viewers in with the All-Star shenanigans, how are they supposed to find the games? Once they find the games, can they watch them? Understandably, they want control over viewing rights and the revenue that comes with them. However, it does not do much good if new fans cannot enjoy the product.
Perhaps these hot takes are not so hot. However, if the NHL wants to draw in the “I don’t watch hockey” crown, they need to do more/better than what they are currently doing. Put more effort into growing the game by other means. Make games more accessible and easy for non-hockey fans to find. Do something to give non-fans a better understanding/knowledge of the sport.
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