The Greatest Show On Ice

The NHL Takes Over For A Weekend

The NHL All-Star Game is in the books, and it just may be the best thing to happen to hockey in a while.

Sure, the contests don’t mean anything. And yes, the most recognizable player in the game was absent from the competition. And no, it doesn’t really even matter who won the game.

Despite those things, for two nights out of the entire sports year, the NHL actually took over and made some people lean forward in their chairs and say, “That was pretty cool.”

Montreal, in its 100th season as the host to the storied Canadiens franchise, was the venue for this weekend’s fun and games. The city is passionate about its team, and more importantly about the sport. The fans came out to watch their idols, and in some cases, their national heroes.

The All-Star came hit the birthplace of the NHL at just the right time. Canadians take their hockey very seriously, and they truly appreciate the game played at its highest level. Add that to a talented crop of young stars, and combine it with the home team’s centennial, and you get a recipe for a wonderful spectacle.

The best part of the weekend is that fans, especially those not familiar with hockey, get to see the game’s best players unleashed.

No contract incentives to live up to, no pressure and essentially no defense.

Just the best players in the world on a sheet of ice.

Players like Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin thrive in that envoirnment. It’s the natural habitat for players who came out of the womb wearing skates and have fewer real teeth than they do fingers.

In the skills competition, Ovechkin once again put on a show for the ages. He has made it his mission to show off a little bit of personality without sacraficing the grace that his game embodies.

Donning a bucket hat and a pair of ridiculous sunglasses, Ovechkin prepared for the breakaway challenge with his countryman Malkin. He then grabbed two sticks and took off like a rocket towards the goal. He controlled the puck with his two sticks better than most skaters could do with one. After tossing his right-hand stick toward the crowd, he pounded home a shot, circling around the endboards, with a hat dangling by a string from his neck and a grin on his face.

The game itself was much of the same. The Eastern Conference eventually won a 12-11 slugfest that had to go to a shoot-out to determine the winner.

The home-town hero Alex Kovalev won the MVP award, Ovechkin got the shoot-out game winner, Malkin did things with the puck that most people didn’t know were possible, and the fans got a great show.

For one weekend, the world saw all the amazing things hockey has to offer.

While it wouldn’t make sense for the NHL to amend their rules to aid their offensive wizards any further than they already have, it is nice to see the League doing some things right.

The goals won’t come on a nightly basis as they did Sunday night, but the magical moments will. The players will be there all year. The only question is whether or not 23 goals in one night is enough to keep the fans coming back to the rink.