[Douglas]

Anybody else see Kathleen Edwards sing the National Anthem at the All-Star? I think she did a decent job, in English and French. Better than Nelly Furtado did a few years back at the NBA AllStar game...WAY better.

And she was rockin a Rider jersey too. :thumb:

[sean.bonner]

And she was rockin a Rider jersey too. :thumb:

Yeah, I'd rider.

(fuck sean...lame... LAME)

[cferneyh]

Well, I gotta say, actually being at the All Star Game is a hell of a lot more entertaining than watching it on TV. Sure, the players are only going at 75%, but in person that still seems pretty damn fast. Also, the Hives did a great job getting the crowd fired up for the game and yes, Kathleen Edwards was great doing the Canadian National Anthem.

All-in-all, the weekend was a lot of fun. The Skills Competition was fairly entertaining, though I don't think most of players understood the Breakaway Challenge and what the judges were looking for (Ovechkin got it, and so did Getzlaf).

I got to go to a couple of the NHL parties. Kind of interesting to be walking around with the likes of Bettman, Brian Burke (I wanted to beg him to find an out in his contract and take the Leaf GM job), Mike Babcock, Pat Quinn, Cassie Campbell, and some of the players. Interestingly, the only player who was truly mingling with the crowd was Kaberle - Mr. Most Accurate Shot (!) himself.

One thing I'll say about Atlanta fans - they LOVE Kovalchuk.

[robert goulet]

The Skills game was painful to watch. The lighting was terrible, the camera work was atrocious. It seemed terribly disorganized. That "obstacle course" was a joke. My 7 year old nephew can saucer a puck over a barrier into a mini net, he really can!! Kovalchuk actually won his heat in the fastest skater and still got screwed over...it was just awful.

Kathleen Edwards was not on her game during the anthem either, not only was she out of tune for 75% of the song she actually got some words wrong in French. Granted, it is much more difficult to sing acopella than with accompaniment. But, bonus marks are given for sporting the CFL shirt.

The game however, was quite good IMO. I felt the players could have shot it a little more rather than trying to squeeze in 8 one-touch passes before shooting but that's what the people want (myself included) in these games...a little razzle dazzle. there were some sweet goals, and some even better saves. Nabby stoning Kovalchuk with the glove was pretty sweet and then shutting the door on the break was even better.

[colinjardine]

I agree with Mr. Goulet. The skills were horrible. I found myself flicking to So You Wanna Fight Vol whatever more than watching it. When the fastest skater shit happened, I almost turned it off.

Not only did Kovulchuk beat the guy, they said that Campbell was the fastest in the east? He lost by 30 feet in his heat.

I suggest if they keep the judged "slam dunk contest" breakaway, put some 12 year old kid in net to make the players try to score and if the kid saves the NHL players, he just had the greatest moment of his life. Since they didn't count scoring a goal as a bonus.

I would have either broke out a second puck and try a double move, or skate as fast as I could, fly on my belly and shoot the puck like a pool ball with the butt end of my stick.

[ryan93]

That's awesome cferneyh, i'd love to go to something like that! The important question though, did you meet Alyssa Milano??

I had rec hockey last night, so i only got to see the 1st period of the all-star game...it sounds like it turned out to be a decent game at least.

The skills competition, i enjoyed it, loved seeing Chris Pronger fall down while Scott Oake was interviewing Corey Perry! And Marc Savard's attempt to do play-by-play during the young stars game! The Young Stars game format was a lot better this year, the 3-on-3, and as a Ranger fans it was fun seeing rising stars Marc Staal & Brandon Dubinsky out there.
As for the new skills, the first event might of been alright to see in person, i'm not sure, but it didn't translate very well to television, the cameras had a hard time following the action. The fastest skater event would of been alright had they gotten it right! Ilya Kovalchuk won the heat against Shawn Horcoff, and yet since the clock only worked on the 1 East player (Campbell - the slowest of the 3)...Kovalchuk didn't get a chance to go in the final, in his home rink in Altanta!!
The breakaway event or whatever it was called, i think it sas potential for sure. I was disappointed with what a few of the guys did, i mean i only play rec, yet i could come up with something a hell of a lot more creative than what Datsyuk or Gaborik or Kovalchuk did.

[tigerthelion]

The fastest skater competition should consist of a lap around the rink.

The breakaway contest was a joke. I'm glad I only caught highlights after and didn't catch it live. It's a terrible idea. There are 10 year olds all over the world who can do what Getzlaf TRIED to do. That's the sad part about it. These guys are SUPPOSED to be the BEST IN THE WORLD! They should do better.

[cferneyh]

That's awesome cferneyh, i'd love to go to something like that! The important question though, did you meet Alyssa Milano??

Sadly no. Apparently she was supposed to be one of the judges for the Breakaway Contest, but claimed to "not know enough about hockey" and begged out of it. I guess what Alyssa wants, Alyssa gets.

[Lizard King]

Selanne is back:: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=228393&hubname=">http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=228393&hubname=</a><!-- m -->

The Ducks are looking like serious contenders again if Teemu has gas left in the tank, the guy can score. I hope this doesnt become a trend though, players only playing half seasons and such.

In other news, I think Ray Emery needs a personal assistant to help him out or something.. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=228402&hubname=">http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=228402&hubname=</a><!-- m -->

[ryan93]

I was hoping she might be one of the judges. I watched the pregame skate/whatever it was on the NHL Network Saturday afternoon & she seemed to know quite a bit about the game. Said she grew up a Rangers fan, but when she moved to LA she becames a Kings fan & has been a season ticket holder ever since.

Glad to see Teemu back, he's one of my favorite players. IMO he was the MVP of the Ducks each of the last two seasons, and he'll obviously be a welcome addition. An Anaheim repeat wouldn't surprise me a bit.

[das_hips]

Lecavalier, Ovechkin, and Iginla have all played better than Alfie this season. That 7 point game seems to have some people a little overjealous. :rambo: That's my take on it, anyway.

I don't like your take... you can eat it, too... The only reason the '7 point' game is of any relevance is that following that game, the rest of the league took notice that Alfredsson should probably be involved in any discussion of league MVP; it put him at the top of the league leaders (apparently being sixth doesn't garnish such attention). I'm pretty sure everyone in Ottawa has faithfully assumed he has had a reasonble shot at MVP way before that 7-point performance. Either way, he leads such company in +/- (by a long shot, except Iginla), short handed goals (and points) by a significant margin, TOI... really, the guy has been possessed for the last 18 months, and has done a terrific job as the captain of the Senator's. When the going get's tough (down 1-0 against the Canadiens, or against the Red Wings, or even game 5 against the Ducks) he always shows up, and scores two goals. He's never had an off-night this season. I guess we'll have to see how the rest of the season pans out, but he gets my vote.

[colinjardine]

It don't look like Razor Emery will be suiting up anytime soon for the Sens. Late for another practice (by 4mins). I don't know if they'd even get much for him til he's healthy.

[Lizard King]

It don't look like Razor Emery will be suiting up anytime soon for the Sens. Late for another practice (by 4mins). I don't know if they'd even get much for him til he's healthy.

he skated with the team today, looks like he'll at least be backup tonite. i doubt punishing the guy will do him much good, it will probably just push him further away, they need to find out whats bothering him (if anything) and try to work with him and get him playing again. Plus I doubt they could trade him right now with his problems and his salary, I think they're stuck with him for now.

[Lizard King]

Just saw this on hockeybuzz,

Is this the year?

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMs6gcUA6Bc">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMs6gcUA6Bc</a><!-- m -->

[opiated]

^

That is too funny