How could the NHL Improve the All-Star Game?
Talk about ideas of how to improve the hype around the NHL All-Star game
by Nate Penner: March 10, 2020
Talk about ideas of how to improve the hype around the NHL All-Star game
by Nate Penner: March 10, 2020
The NHL All-Star game took place on January 25th. They had four teams competing in 3 on 3 games for a winner takes all $1 million prize.
The format is the same as 2016 when they first changed to 3 on 3. When they changed the formatting, they hoped to bring more skill and creativity into the games since there’s more room on the ice. This allowed for some more highlights in the game, but also made it much less competitive.
In the NBA they made significant changes to the 2020 All-Star game and it payed off. People are calling it the best All-Star game ever. This is because of the competitiveness that it brought, players were playing to win, they even played some defense which isn’t normal for All-Star games. Players competed and fought to win each quarter, because they weren’t playing for themselves, they were playing for several charities.
This is, what I believe, the solution to the NHL’s problem. If they were to make it so the players were motivated to win the game, there would be a much more entertaining game, showcasing more skills and abilities of the best players.
I mean some of the all-time greatest players, Alexander Ovechkin and Marc-Andre Fleury, chose not to participate in the 2020 All-Star game. In my opinion this says that some people ae losing interest in the All-Star game and sooner than later more people will elect to miss the All-Star weekend. And why should they? They are making a combined $15.75 million a year and competing to win $1 million which they split between around 11 players. So why compete other than to have fun?
The only reason the athletes are coming, is for the fun and to experience an All-Star game. Having fun is great and is the whole point of the All-Star weekend, but it's also for the fans and to makes money.
For example, would you rather watch the two worst teams in the league play each other at the end of the season or watch the Stanley Cup final? My guess is that you picked the second option, this is because of the competition between the two teams. It brings out the fight in the players and makes for a more entertaining game.
I’m not saying that the All-Star game should be as competitive as the Stanley Cup final, but at least give them something to compete for.
Since the players are already making enough money, why don’t we have them compete to win money for charities. The NBA recently changed their format which included charity donations. The NBA game made it so at the end of each quarter the winner got $100 000 donated to charity, and the winner of the fourth 4th quarter they won $400 000 for charity. The result was amazing, it was competitive, but at the same time it still brought a lot of highlight plays.
The NHL needs to not necessarily copy the NBA but use their ideas. I believe the NHL should name four captains for the All-Star game, and those four captains draft their teams. Then those teams will compete in the skills competition as well as compete in the game. The winner of each game should win $100 000 to a charity of their choice. And the winner of the tournament wins $500 000 for charity.
If we have more mixed up and even teams then the games will be more competitive, and if they’re competing to win money for something that they care about it should bring some better hockey.
The format is the same as 2016 when they first changed to 3 on 3. When they changed the formatting, they hoped to bring more skill and creativity into the games since there’s more room on the ice. This allowed for some more highlights in the game, but also made it much less competitive.
In the NBA they made significant changes to the 2020 All-Star game and it payed off. People are calling it the best All-Star game ever. This is because of the competitiveness that it brought, players were playing to win, they even played some defense which isn’t normal for All-Star games. Players competed and fought to win each quarter, because they weren’t playing for themselves, they were playing for several charities.
This is, what I believe, the solution to the NHL’s problem. If they were to make it so the players were motivated to win the game, there would be a much more entertaining game, showcasing more skills and abilities of the best players.
I mean some of the all-time greatest players, Alexander Ovechkin and Marc-Andre Fleury, chose not to participate in the 2020 All-Star game. In my opinion this says that some people ae losing interest in the All-Star game and sooner than later more people will elect to miss the All-Star weekend. And why should they? They are making a combined $15.75 million a year and competing to win $1 million which they split between around 11 players. So why compete other than to have fun?
The only reason the athletes are coming, is for the fun and to experience an All-Star game. Having fun is great and is the whole point of the All-Star weekend, but it's also for the fans and to makes money.
For example, would you rather watch the two worst teams in the league play each other at the end of the season or watch the Stanley Cup final? My guess is that you picked the second option, this is because of the competition between the two teams. It brings out the fight in the players and makes for a more entertaining game.
I’m not saying that the All-Star game should be as competitive as the Stanley Cup final, but at least give them something to compete for.
Since the players are already making enough money, why don’t we have them compete to win money for charities. The NBA recently changed their format which included charity donations. The NBA game made it so at the end of each quarter the winner got $100 000 donated to charity, and the winner of the fourth 4th quarter they won $400 000 for charity. The result was amazing, it was competitive, but at the same time it still brought a lot of highlight plays.
The NHL needs to not necessarily copy the NBA but use their ideas. I believe the NHL should name four captains for the All-Star game, and those four captains draft their teams. Then those teams will compete in the skills competition as well as compete in the game. The winner of each game should win $100 000 to a charity of their choice. And the winner of the tournament wins $500 000 for charity.
If we have more mixed up and even teams then the games will be more competitive, and if they’re competing to win money for something that they care about it should bring some better hockey.