NHL All Star Weekend A Success

For a long time now, the National Hockey League has been looking for a way to improve the midseason all star game. Lets face facts, the last few years the All Star Game hasn't been much fun to watch. The Skills Competition is on another level by itself, most fans think that is the most enjoyable part of all star weekend and usually it is. As for the game, well we can't really say the same thing lately. They've gone with a battle of the conferences, they've tried North America against the World, hell they've gone with fantasy drafts the last few seasons. Lets face facts, it had grown stagnant, looked uninspired and often failed to live up to the hype. In recent years it has really looked like one big shoot around, as nobody was really playing hard (nobody wants to get hurt in an exhibition game which is understandable). That was not the case this time around. Oh no, this year we had a different story. There was flow to the game, there was buzz in the building all night long. There was excitement. Sure the game was a joy to watch, but so too was John Scott.

The Pacific Division took home the All-Star crown in the first-ever 3-on-3 tournament. Their captain, the guy that has gotten all of the attention, both in a positive way and in a negative way as well to a degree, leading up to this event was the MVP. John Scott is, and was, the single biggest reason this is an All-Star game we will never forget. Scott wasn't even included as an option for the fans to select in the fan vote for MVP. Instead, he won by write in. He's a trending topic on Twitter, everything about him and now this game is going viral across the sports world. Of all people, the guy with 11 career points who will go back to the American Hockey League's St. John's IceCaps (in Newfoundland, Canada) after all this is over was the one who made this game relevant again.

Lets look at that fact first shall we. John Scott really isn't a guy many people would see belonging in a game like this. When people think of All Star games in the four big pro sports, they think of skill and finesse players. John Scott isn't one of those guys, as he's really made a living in pro hockey as an enforcer. Then again, All Star games are supposed to be an exhibition so eh what the hell right. John had really started getting support from fans and players alike. Ever since Scott penned his piece in the Players' Tribune last week, he became a sympathetic figure. He detailed how the league tried to get him to back out and how the Coyotes trading him seemed a little suspicious. So the league let him back in the game (a screwup the league made from the start and had egg on its face the whole time), and he walked away with MVP after scoring a pair of goals in the game.

As for the game itself, most people never really take the All Star game seriously, which hockey players are no different. This new format that the league tried did make things a little better. Players still didn't take it totally seriously, but it was just enough to improve the quality of the game. The first two semifinals were great. The opening game came with Atlantic earning a close 4-3 game. The lower score was actually kind of cool, its something you don't really think of when you hear all star games, at least not as of late. Look no further than last year's All-Star Game, which ended in a 17-12 score. A game like that got boring to watch, it was so bad that I didn't even really watch the 2nd half of the game that's how bad it was.

The second semifinal had a lot more action, with a 9-6 score and Scott stealing the show. Then we had the championship game, where it was the goalies putting on an absolute show. Roberto Luongo and Jonathan Quick made some acrobatic saves to make the low scoring game remain fun, especially if you like goalies. Ben Bishop and John Gibson pretty much did the same thing, with Corey Perry getting the only goal on a perfect shot. The players played. That's all you could really ask for. It wasn't overly awe-inspiring, but it wasn't in the least bit boring. That's a big change from recent years. The new format for the game was kinda cool and the John Scott story made it even better!

By the time all was said and down, the crowd was chanting "MVP! MVP!" for John Scott. His teammates lifted him up on their shoulders. He was the People's Champion.