The Mostly-Star Game

This weekend was the NHL All-Star "Game." I put it in quotes because they didn't play a traditional game between two teams, but rather a mini-tournament between four teams, representing the league's four divisions. And on top of that, they'll be playing shortened, three-on-three games, rather than regulation matches.

In some ways, that's clever. After all, pro leagues have difficulty making their half-hearted All-Star games seem exciting and relevant, so the NHL doesn't even bother pretending it's a real game, so much as an extension of the skills competition. And hockey, like football, has the problem that it's hard to put on an exhibition bloodsport: the game is never as physical as the regular sport, and thus biased towards offence. So why not just go with that and build an All-Star game around quick, fast, high-scoring hockey? But it's also a little embarrassing that the event that should be the big celebration of the sport is not actually playing the sport.

Speaking of which, the other big controversy in the game is the presence of John Scott, the journeyman grinder who would never normally get anywhere near this game without a ticket. Fans voted him onto the team as a lark. The press tried to turn his inclusion into a scandal, or at least an embarrassment to the league, especially after Scott was traded, then sent to the minors. But they seemed to think better of it when it turned out the fans kind of liked the idea of having him at the game.

The story took an even stranger turn when Scott scored two goals and was named MVP, and will surely go down as a hockey folk hero. It's too bad Stompin' Tom Connors isn't around to write a song about him. It was great publicity for the league, if in an unexpected way. And I think it's kind of fitting. Hockey is often promoted as a sport of highly-skilled stars, especially at the All-Star Game.

Yet the fans seem to appreciate it as a grueling physical challenge; a test of toughness. Really, a player like Scott is a better symbol of the fans' ideal than the game's talented stars are. So it was good to see not only Scott getting his due, but the fans getting what they really want.