Vote Rory Fitzpatrick into the NHL All-Star Game!

[TheLionKing]

I think All-Star games be it hockey, football or basketball is a joke. Nothing more than a free all expenses weekend for the participants.

[Soundy]

Ya, I think Pratt pretty much nailed it:

"A single NHL all-star game can now produce as many as 26 goals and has become a Madison Avenue corporate schmooze on skates."

[Toppy Vann]

Thankfully, this embarrassing sham fell just short. The whole affair was a disgrace to the league and made a mockery of the all-star game and Fitzpatrick.

It's time to change the rules to at least limit fans to one vote per 24 hour period, as the NBA does.

You may be right that rules on fan voting need changing like the NBA as you note.

As dumb as it was it did generate tons of interest and discussion and like the old adage says, it doesn't matter what they say about you in the media as long as they get your name right- it's all good.

The Canuck players too made light of it and were wearing those vote pedro/rory t-shirts so it is a bit of a team builder.

I suspect he 'd have said thanks but no thanks if selected and would only have gone if the NHL and coach Randy Carlyle who said he should go if had the votes, told him to report. The negative is like Ray Ferraro noted. If he did go, it would mean a deserving player would not be selected and it might be that guy's only year to be an all-star.

[Soundy]

Yeah, Ferraro sounded a little bitter on that note, didn't he? One wonders why that might be...

And really, what does makes one "deserving" in the first place? If, in fact, the whole thing is just a popularity contest, it could be that someone's who's "flashier" or simply better-known gets the nod over someone who's actually a better player... how is that any more fair?

By the way, Dan Murphy had an interesting take in his blog on SportsNet.ca this morning: http://www2.sportsnet.ca/blogs/dan_murp ... a_recount/

[sj-roc]

Frankly, those who are getting so upset about it - especially those outside the NHL itself *ahem* - are just being ridiculous: there's really no SIGNIFICANCE to the game; it doesn't mean anything to the pro season, and in the end, it's still largely a popularity contest, whether it's the public voting, or the media, or even much of the NHL front end. If you really want it to be a "meaningful" honor, the ONLY people who should be voting are the players and possibly the coaching staff.

Otherwise, there's really nothing worth getting your jersey in a twist about.

Do any players have bonus clauses in their contracts for appearing in the ASG? Those may become less common/lucrative after this episode, even if the league does something about the voting protocol.

[Soundy]

I don't think so. Wouldn't make sense. Team owners are probably happier if their multi-million-dollar players DON'T go, because there's always a chance of them getting injured if they do (and consider that, being among the BEST players in the league, the participants are generally the MOST EXPENSIVE players in the league).

Plus, in "The New NHL", any such bonuses would most certainly be applied to your salary cap. Most teams have little enough room as it is without having to tack that extra on - even if it was written up so that the bonus didn't go against the cap unless the player was selected, a GM would have to figure that into his total salary "just in case".

[sj-roc]

Okay. I have heard of instances, especially pre-salary cap, where teams sometimes put incentives (e.g., something like finishing top ten in scoring for a rookie or third line forward) into contracts as part of good faith bargaining, even though they're unlikely to be attained.

[TheLionKing]

Time to change your avatar Soundy !

[Soundy]

Okay. I have heard of instances, especially pre-salary cap, where teams sometimes put incentives (e.g., something like finishing top ten in scoring for a rookie or third line forward) into contracts as part of good faith bargaining, even though they're unlikely to be attained.

Oh, they still have such incentives for regular-season play... and it now has to be included in the salary cap. If they promise a player 1 $1M bonus for getting 50 goals, then that's $1M off the cap, whether the player makes it or not.

Incentives like that for the All-Star game would kill a team - offering an incentive for an All-Star appearance, and then having that player not go, would just be money down the drain. Having that player get HURT at the ASG and missing some of the regular season would be disasterous, especially considering if he's making the ASG roster, he's probably one of your top players.

Conversely, you KNOW the league wouldn't allow them to NOT apply against the cap, as it would provide a pretty wide loophole to let GMs pay their top players less while pretty much guaranteeing they'd make the bonus. A Joe Sakic, for example, could be signed for a couple million for the season, with a $4M bonus "if" he's chosen for the All-Star roster... well, that's a pretty sure bet, and if that $4M isn't counted against the cap, that gives the team an unfair skirt around the cap.

In short, I don't see any reason a team would want to offer such an bonus, especially since the ASG is meaningless to the rest of the season. If they did something like MLB does (winning conference gets home-field advantage for the World Series, IIRC), it might make a difference... and making the game a bit more meaningful might make it more worth watching as well... but as it stands, there's no such incentive.

[Robbie]

With the final rosters for the NHL All-Star game released, it looks like Luongo will still be the only Canuck. Luongo will play the first period. Let's home he gets a shutout so that he will be a stronger candidate to win game MVP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/55th_Natio ... -Star_Game

[Soundy]

It absolutely criminal that NEITHER of the Sedins were selected. But of course, this being the first All-Star Game back after the lockout, the NHL had to make sure to create sufficient interest in ALL their markets, so they declared that there should be at least one player from every team.

Boy... it's a good thing this whole Vote For Rory thing failed... it would be terrible if someone DESERVING got bumped just for the sake of someone else's agenda.

[TheLionKing]

It absolutely criminal that NEITHER of the Sedins were selected.

Absolutely true but I guess they need to have other players represent their respective teams.

[Soundy]

It absolutely criminal that NEITHER of the Sedins were selected.

Absolutely true but I guess they need to have other players represent their respective teams.

"Need"? That's debatable. They've never "needed" that kind of representation before. It's all Bettman and company trying desperately to keep hockey going in markets it never should have been put into in the first place.

[Robbie]

3-3 after one period. Luongo made some big saves but also allowed 3 goals, so there isn't much chance of him winning all-star game MVP. But after the first period, each player involved in scoring has only one point. If the remaining goaltenders give up more than three goals, if none of the players runs away in total points, and if the western conference ends up winning, then Luongo may still be voted MVP.

An interesting opening theme by CBC when they imitated the opening credits for the long-running drama series "Dallas".

[Robbie]

9-6 for the West after two periods. Brodeur let in 6 goals while Kiprusoff let in 3, so neither goaltender clearly outshined Luongo. Brian Rolston leads scoring with 4 points at 2 goals and 2 assists. But Daniel Briere, Joe Sakic, and Steve Nash all have 3 points while Rick Nash has 2 goals. It looks like it will all come down to the third period when Marty Turco will be in goal for the west vs. Cristobal Huet for the east.