NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft
I thought this went very well. I was nervous that the NHL would make it overly-gimmicky and over-produce the hell out of it, but they let the even speak for itself. They had the three captains up there making their picks the same way you or I would if we did a fantasy draft with our buddies. I thought TSN could have done a slightly better job preparing (you could tell they were doing things by the seat of their pants, but a little of that is to be expected at a first-time event) and planning, but overall, a great night. The highlight of the night was when Phil Kessel was left by himself among the remaining players and Alexander Ovechkin took a picture of him sitting there on his phone, very funny stuff. Eric Staal announcing the Henrik Lundqvist pick of "From the New York Rangers......Henrik Lundqvist" with his brother Marc still sitting out there was good stuff as well.
Skills Competition
Bruins Defenseman Zdeno Chara breaks his own record at the All-Star Skills Competition with a 105.9 mph slap shot
The Saturday night festivities or All-Star weekend was it's usual hit. Michal Grabner represented the lowly Islanders well in the fastest skater competition, seeing Cam Ward and Tim Thomas (who busted his ass) race in full goalie gear was good comedy, Zdeno Chara breaking his own record for fastest shot ever (105.9 mph) were some of the highlights of the night. I love the Elimination Shootout to close the event and the "Relay Race" event is pretty cool too, but I don't like the Breakaway Challenge. It seems very disorganized, but I guess that's part of the charm. I know the rosters aren't set until Friday night, but picking the participants in that particular event in advance would give the players a chance to think about and maybe try what they want to do.
All-Star Game
Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist makes a save on Avs center Matt Duchene in the first penalty shot to ever occur in an All-Star game.
The great thing about the All-Star game is that even when a team has a 4-0 lead (like Team Staal did 4 minutes in to the game), it's never over. It was a see-saw game and a lot of fun to watch with Team Lidstrom winning 11-10. There were plenty of nice goals and dekes and passes throughout the game. I felt like the game dragged a bit as it went on though. It's interesting to see the dynamic of split players works. For example, late in the game, Bruins D Zdeno Chara had a chance to blast a shot from the low slot that could have tied the game. The problem - the man between the pipes was his teammate and top Vezina candidate Tim Thomas. You wouldn't want to hurt your own playoff chances in an exhibition, so Chara chose to go with a soft wrist shot. Some people don't like that side of the game, I enjoy that type of wrinkle. It will be real interesting to see how the NHL handles the captains next season in Ottawa. The Senators will most likely be gutting the entire organization and they won't have much in the way of their own All-Stars to promote. I hope the league decides to do the draft again next season.
WEEKLY TV Viewer Guide
We all live in Pittsburgh this week since all four of the Penguins games this week are televised nationally
NO MONDAY GAME DUE TO ALL-STAR BREAK
Tuesday - Penguins @ Rangers - 7:30PM - Versus
This is the first of four times that the Penguins will be on nationally televised this week. The Penguins are in 4th in the conference and trail the Flyers for the division & conference lead by five points. The Rangers are in 6th in the conference and trail Pittsburgh by five points for 2nd in the conference. It doesn't look like Crosby or Malkin will be in the line-up for this game, so it's a chance for the Rangers to catch the Penguins when they are hurting. Pittsburgh needs to come out and show that they can get by for stretches without those guys. The Blueshirts have won 2 of the 3 meetings between the two so far, but the Penguins won the lone game at MSG back in November.
Tuesday - 10PM - Coyotes @ Sharks - 10PM - Versus
-A rare mid-season doubleheader from Versus. This game features two Pacific Division teams that are battling in a tight Western Conference. Phoenix is in 6th place in the West while San Jose is clinging on to 8th. January was a rough month for the Sharks, going 5-7 but winning four of their last 5 down the stretch. San Jose has won both meetings this year by a combined score of 8-3. This will be there 2nd meeting in San Jose this season.
Wednesday - Islanders @ Penguins - 7:30PM - Versus
You already know everything about the Penguins coming in to this game. The Isles are 1-1-1 against the Penguins so far and they ended Sidney Crosby's point-scoring streak back in December on the Island. The Isles went in to the All-Star break losing three in a row and will be in Atlanta on Tuesday night.
THURSDAY - NO NATIONALLY TELEVISED GAME
Friday - Sabres @ Penguins - 7PM - NHL Network
This is the 3rd time we'll get a chance to check out the Penguins this week. The Penguins both won meetings in Buffalo by a combined score of 6-2 (the Pens won 1-0 in the first meeting of the season) and this will be their first match-up in the Consol Energy Center. 2011 has been a good year for the Sabres with a 8-3-1 record in the new year. G Ryan Miller has started all but one game for Buffalo since November 24th.
Saturday - Maple Leafs @ Sabres - 7PM - NHL Network
We get a good look at the Sabres this weekend as this will be their 2nd game on NHL Network in back to back nights. Buffalo needs to win games against lesser division opponents if they want to make a legitimate run at a top 8 spot in the conference. This is only their 3rd of 6 meetings this season, with the Sabres winning both games so far. Things need to turn around for the Leafs since they lost three in a row and six of seven heading in to the All-Star break. Toronto gets home games against Florida and Carolina before the Hockey Night in Canada match-up.
Sunday - Penguins @ Capitals - 12:30PM - NBC
This will be their first meeting since the Winter Classic at Heinz Field on New Years Night. The Caps are 4-2-4 since that victory and will have good tune ups vs. Montreal and @ Tampa Bay before this game. Semyon Varlamov got most of the work in January, going 2-3-2. These two finish up their season series later in the month with all four games coming in a two month span.
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