Lazy Sunday
While half of Puckin' Hostile is partying it up in Florida, the NHL held its own party over the weekend in my favorite town, Columbus, Ohio. Yes, Lumbus of all places was the host city of the 2015 NHL All Star Game. Now, I'm not going to give you a "Good, Bad, and Ugly" recap here, frankly because that wasn't hockey that was played yesterday at Nationwide Arena. The All Star Game is what it is. To me, its a break from being a negative, picky, hockey fan always pointing out the bad and the turnovers that normally happen when Michal Rozsival is on the ice for the Blackhawks.
I will absolutely agree with anyone that yesterday's final score of 17-12 was absurd. As a former goalie, it was painful to watch. But again, the All Star Game is about having fun, and putting on a show for the fans. Speaking of those fans, who didn't enjoy the Lumbus fans booing Rick Nash? How the Nash saga ended wasn't all on Nash, it was more about the fact it was time to move on. For Columbus fans, they're still building their group who they love to hate. Rick Nash fits that category. He had fun with it, and that's how it should have been handled.
Speaking of Columbus fans, we all know they love that cannon they shoot off after a goal. Yours truly enjoys it as well, but there was a slobbering love affair going on with yesterday during the telecast, that even I couldn't take any longer. We get it NBCSN, its an awesome cannon, but we don't need to be told how you have to prepare for it. That's part of the fun of the cannon. Also, to all the players who were bitching and moaning about it, get over it. If you played in Columbus, you'd probably like hearing it. If you're an opposing player who hates the cannon, I have an idea for you. How about playing defense and stopping the Blue Jackets, then you won't have to hear it.
By far though, the best/coolest thing about yesterday's All Star Game was watching Darryl Sutter's son, Chris, coach Team Foligno. For all the crying about how bad the game was, if this didn't bring a smile to your face, then something is wrong with you. To me, this is what the All Star Game is all about, having fun. Kudos to Darryl Sutter for taking a break from being Coach Serious for the night, and allowing his son to have the time of his life. It was awesome to see. Stick tap salute to Chris and Darryl.
Other points of interest I took from All Star Weekend were;
- The music performances were awful. Especially the opening one by Locksley. It reiterates my opinion that live music sucks.
- How could the ref miss the tripping call after Getzlaf went down in the 2nd period? (Its sarcasm folks)
- Dustin Byfuglien was a -5. You didn't think I'd let that pass did you?
- If we were playing "post" in the skills competition, Jonathan Toews would have won hands down.
- Speaking of the skills competition, the Tarasenko/Elliott selfie was a cool thing to see. Remember its about having fun people.
- 108.5 mph, Shea Weber has an absolute cannon of a shot. It would have been nice to see him battle Chara, but then again, I don't know how effective Chara would have been taking a slap shot with a walker in front of him.
- The fantasy draft turned out to be a bigger success than I thought it would be. The drunkeness that was going on reminded me of almost every fantasy football draft I've been apart of.
- Who didn't enjoy Drew Doughty's bald joke towards Kevin Shattenkirk? We need more comedic personalities like that.
- The Kessel for Seguin trade was a nice joke to the event, and nice to see Kessel have a sense of humor about it.
- We're not done with Kessel, hopefully he enjoyed looking at the ice girl as she walked by.
- And its safe to say Kathryn Tappen has replaced Erin Andrews as the hottest sideline/rinkside reporter in sports. (Sorry Jarret Stoll)
Now all the fun and games are over. The Blackhawks will continue their 7 game road trip with their 6 game "Ice Show" trip that opens up in Los Angeles on Wednesday.