Mike Chen's Hockey Blog

Final Thoughts On All-Star Weekend

by Mike Chen on 01/26/09 at 01:04 PM ET
Comments (2)

Ah, the morning after the All-Star Game. Right about now, you should have read about 50 different writers and media folks saying the game is an abomination and it should go away.

Abomination? The game, well, yeah, it’s pretty bad. Should it go away? No, but there’s a caveat to that (more on that in a second). However, the simple answer to that is that All-Star weekend is a cash cow for the league which impacts revenues which impacts salary cap, and so on...so no, it shouldn’t go away, at least from a financial perspective.

From a hockey perspective, it shouldn’t go away either. Yes, it is meaningless, and at times painful. But put in the context of what it should be—essentially a hockey convention with an exhibition game at the end—it’s really not that bad. Just don’t focus on the game itself and you’ll see what I mean.

I’ve been to one All-Star extravaganza in my life. The highlights, in order of fun factor, were A) the Fan Fest B) general atmosphere around the city C) skills competition and D) the actual game. A and B are why the weekend is important; C is hit or miss, and D is, well, an afterthought. As I told my father-in-law (who was over watching on Sunday with his Habs jersey on), if I wasn’t covering the game, I’d have shut it off after the first period.

However, going to the All-Star festivities itself is like visiting hockey’s version of Disneyland, more so than the Hall of Fame or draft. It’s even more fan-friendly now that they’ve got the red-carpet arrivals (one of the league’s nice new touches) that allows fans to get autographs from pretty much every participating participating. Part carnival, part merchandise showroom, and part parade, the Fan Fest (or whatever they’re calling it now) is top-to-bottom wall-to-wall hockey, from trophies to jerseys to player appearances. It’s great fun for fans that can’t afford a ridiculously overpriced ticket to the actual game. More importantly, though, it gives fans a destination event every year.

Put it this way: most people wouldn’t pay hundreds of dollars to fly out to a Cup final that doesn’t involve their team. A visit to the Hall of Fame is cool but it’s only part of a Toronto trip. But for fans, if they wanted to have an annual place worth checking out, where a local convention center is turned into a hockey shrine and the best players of today and yesterday are out and about for a few days, that’s what All-Star weekend is. And because it roams around the continent, different groups of fans have access to it. Some, like my buddy Rob who runs fantasy site RotoRob.com, hit the road from Toronto to Montreal. Others fly in as part of their annual vacation plans while countless locals drop by the fun.

As the event rotates around the league, it becomes a fresh experience every time (unless you happen to be rich enough to go every year)—a roaming celebration of hockey that gives fans a few days to be completely absorbed by their passion for the sport. Then it goes away and everything kicks back into the playoff race, but for anyone who visited Montreal over the past weekend, they’ll tell you that the experience—not the game—was fun and memorable.

So that’s the value in All-Star weekend. Not the game—that’s for sponsors and league accountants—but the experience; taking a weekend break in the middle of the season to give the fans a chance to gather and celebrate is a pretty unique thing, and every city gives it its own flavor.

It’s not hurting anyone, it doesn’t really disrupt the schedule much, the players (for the most part) seem to enjoy it, and its a fan event that’s nearly impossible to replicate. It’s just too bad that the overall fun of the experience can’t be translated into the actual game.

Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: All-Star+Game,

Comments

I thought the TV shots of the kids in the stands summed it all up. As a 10 year old who was totally starstruck and not over analytical, I loved the All Star Game. And I can totally see taking my young kids to the festivities as another way to pass my love of the sport and its history on to them. As it was, it was enjoyable to watch with my kids and see their reactions to the game and players, as much as it was hard for me to watch the game itself.

Posted by dip from Philly on 01/26/09 at 01:30 PM ET

I agree. One of my happiest memories is going to the Fan Fest in San Jose, and getting to do a call of the Flames-Sharks Game 7 Ray Whitney goal (I think I still have the tape). My brother, my cousin and I had a blast taking in all the booths and entertainment, and we didn’t even see a single hockey player. Just the atmosphere was amazing.

The game isn’t just about the fans, its about reaching the inner child of the fan. Its supposed to be a dream come true of when you were playing roller hockey in your backyard (California kid=no frozen ponds). Sometimes I think the media forgets that. Leave it alone, its all good fun.

Posted by Ruben from San Francisco on 01/28/09 at 11:35 AM ET

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About Mike Chen’s Hockey Blog

Mike Chen prides himself in being the only hockey writer integrating puck discussion with both Morrissey quotes and Star Wars references. Since 2004, he’s blogged about all things hockey and currently contributes to FoxSports.com, the Battle of California, and RotoRob.

Questions? Comments? Hate mail? Contact Mike here.