What the hell happened to the skills competition??

[JesusNEVERexisted]

Are they trying to turn it into a sitcom? Picking up kids during the shootout and wrapping yourself around another player?? WTF??

What a JOKE!

[cprice12]

That whole part of the skills competition is kind of dumb and most of the time I feel embarrassed for the players because usually their more complex moves don't even work.
And bringing in props and whatnot? And the goalies halfway trying NOT to stop the puck? Meh. I could do without it.
Although, I did laugh when Luongo offered Ovechkin his goalie stick.

[glen a richter]

I didn't watch the skills competition because I'm sure it's devolved into the same kind of moronic nonsense that other sports have had to endure already. For example, that guy in the NBA skills competition who dunked over a Benz or a Hummer or whatever car it was. That's such a valuable skill to have in a real game, because you never know when someone will turn the court into a used car lot. Exhibitions of skill in impossible-to-actually-exist situations isn't what a skills competition is about. A skills competition is about fastest skater, hardest shot, accuracy, you know--actual skills. Not showboating. If I wanted to watch showboating I'd be a basketball fan.

[drwoland]

Yeah the "breakaway" part of the competition needs to go.

Also was odd to see Tank in "fastest skater" but not in accuracy. But then again, why would any of this be rational

[cardsfan04]

Yeah the "breakaway" part of the competition needs to go.

Also was odd to see Tank in "fastest skater" but not in accuracy. But then again, why would any of this be rational

That almost makes me happy that I didn't get to watch it. The one thing I was really looking forward to was Tarasenko in the accuracy competition. I just assumed he would be in it and really thought he might win it. I would have been pissed.

[Kerfuffle]

It's all about entertainment. No one wants to see the goalie take it seriously and try to stop these shots. It's all about who has the fanciest and most entertaining shot - and it would be a big disappointment to see the goalie stop it. The goalies know they are just a prop for this piece and it's okay with me. I like the creativity and humor that the players come up with. Tarasenko and Elliott were great last night and I was cracking up on what they came up. Don't take it so serious guys - it's an event about having fun.

[JesusNEVERexisted]

What happened to integrity? This "skills" competition loses all credibility when the goalies don't even try to stop the puck anymore!

The NHL all star weekend is turning into as big a joke as the NFL Pro Bowl which is totally IGNORED.

[glen a richter]

It's all about entertainment. No one wants to see the goalie take it seriously and try to stop these shots. It's all about who has the fanciest and most entertaining shot - and it would be a big disappointment to see the goalie stop it. The goalies know they are just a prop for this piece and it's okay with me. I like the creativity and humor that the players come up with. Tarasenko and Elliott were great last night and I was cracking up on what they came up. Don't take it so serious guys - it's an event about having fun.

I thought Crawford genuinely sucked. Elliott surprised me, though. Oh well, better than injuring himself in a meaningless event.

[cprice12]

It's all about entertainment. No one wants to see the goalie take it seriously and try to stop these shots. It's all about who has the fanciest and most entertaining shot - and it would be a big disappointment to see the goalie stop it. The goalies know they are just a prop for this piece and it's okay with me. I like the creativity and humor that the players come up with. Tarasenko and Elliott were great last night and I was cracking up on what they came up. Don't take it so serious guys - it's an event about having fun.

I get that they are just having fun...and I love the skills competition in general (except for Ovechkin's anticts. He just really annoys me at how he seems to want all of the attention...I dunno.), but that part of the skills competition too often crosses the line between fun and embarrassing if you ask me. Someone can come in and do a really cool deke between the legs and put it top shelf, and the fans go "meh" because he didn't put on some stupid sunglasses, dress up like Elvis and spin around 10 times as he came in on goal. Kane's superman costume, Ovechkin's sunglasses and sun hat...come on. I'm all for having fun, and I don't take it so serious...I just think wearing costumes and stuff like that is kind of stupid.

[Fradi]

I remember staying up late just to watch skills competition as a kid, waiting for Al to come up in the shooting contest, and enjoying the whole charade in the process. Nowadays I'm pretty meh about it. Anyway, thinking about it, I guess that's what it is, just some parade for the kids, who I'm sure enjoy watching their 'heroes' mess around in this thing, so I don't believe this is something we should take seriously at all. Players enjoy it (I guess), young fans enjoy it, and I stay up late for completely different reasons now :D

[Kerfuffle]

I liked the skill competition because my young boys were excited about it and some of the same drills shown on TV are what they do in practice.

As for the game, that was the highest scoring ever at 17-12 and never have I seen such disregard. The D-men are elected because of their defense and they didn't even try. Many of the goals were purposely let in by the goalies (I'm okay with that in the skill competition but not the game). Overall the whole thing had a "I don't give an ef' ring to it. If you look pull up the Wikipedia listing of NHL all star game scores in years past you will see that before 1990 the scores were respectable. In 1990 they jumped up and we got some 9-7 scores. Then around 2000 we started seeing the ridiculous scores of 12-10 etc. It looks like yesterdays game is getting us closer to when the final score is going to be in the 20s. Just think in 10 years the score will be 26-23.

[ecbm]

I watched none of this nonsense. I guess it's for a market of which I'm not a part, which is fine. Skills competition was easier to for me enjoy when I didn't feel the organizers were patronizing me. The game's always been a joke.

[ViPeRx007]

I watched none of this nonsense. I guess it's for a market of which I'm not a part, which is fine. Skills competition was easier to for me enjoy when I didn't feel the organizers were patronizing me. The game's always been a joke.

I remember really liking all of it when I was a kid. I haven't watched many NHL All-Star games in my adult years. The MLB All-Star festivities are the only ones I actually do like still. The game actually does mean something (whether you agree it should or not) and the homerun derby is fun; even that I start getting bored of that toward the end of though.

The skills competition used to be pretty cool, but, again, I haven't watched it much in recent years either. I happened to remember the game was on last night though and flipped over to it out of curiosity. I watched about 2 minutes and was bored out of my mind. It's so slow, there's no contact, there's no defense. It sucks. I don't know if I just didn't notice when I was younger or what, but it seemed like more of a normal game then; it could have just been my perception as a kid though. Now everyone is so concerned about safety it's like they're all skating around in bubbles.

I understand why it is the way it is. It would suck to get someone injured for the rest of the real season and it's more or less a showcase of offensive skill. It's really meant for the kids and for people just to see all of the NHL's best in one place. That's cool and all, but it's so gimmicky it's tough to watch.

I don't know what you'd do to improve it either. It kind of is what it is. You could make the game count somehow, but then you get players actually trying and it becomes a riskier game. Imagine if they actually played it like a real game though. It would be quite a bit better. But, yea, that sounds cool until one of our best guys blows out a knee during it and is gone for the rest of the season. All things considered, I've kind of accepted it for what it is. Just don't expect me to be watching it regularly anytime soon.

[JesusNEVERexisted]

I remember staying up late just to watch skills competition as a kid, waiting for Al to come up in the shooting contest, and enjoying the whole charade in the process. Nowadays I'm pretty meh about it. Anyway, thinking about it, I guess that's what it is, just some parade for the kids, who I'm sure enjoy watching their 'heroes' mess around in this thing, so I don't believe this is something we should take seriously at all. Players enjoy it (I guess), young fans enjoy it, and I stay up late for completely different reasons now :D

It was GREAT when it started years ago but now it has devolved into mostly nonsense.

[abc789987]

I recorded and watched the skills competition... It was okay since I got to fast forward through most of the bs...

I was really excited when I saw that the goalies were going to shoot at the nets in the one part. But that was ruined with their crap camera angles... I couldn't see shit. Pissed me off.

The skills shootout part that was picked by votes on twitter is dumb...

I dunno, maybe it's because I'm not a kid anymore that it's not as cool as it used to be...

[JesusNEVERexisted]

LOL...that's because when you were a kid they did it differently!

[ecbm]

Well...my suggestion would be to eliminate the game, just name players to the team for the honor. Then use the gap in the calendar to schedule the Winter Classic as an exhibition. Then it won't matter so much how conditions affect that game, players could take it a little easier so as to avoid injury and it won't be so annoying that the vast majority of teams will never be invited to take part. The skills competition maybe could be kept.

But the NHL pretty much has me. They're not going to structure their exhibitions to attract fans like me. So they'll keep doing this as is, and I'll keep ignoring it. Maybe when my son's older if he likes it, I'll get back into it. We'll see.

[drwoland]

I think they just need to rethink the "skills" a little bit.

Accuracy makes sense
Fastest skater makes sense
Hardest shot makes sense

Breakaway challenge? Scrap it. I think the only reason they even have it is to have something to do for the goalies.

[Fradi]

Well, after all has been said, and knowing the luck of the Blues, I'm happy it's not more intense, and I don't have to worry about anyone breaking their spines during a pre-game skate.

[TSUCookieMonster]

It's not supposed to be serious. I'll bet the kids love it... Harlem globetrotters entertainment.

Edit: who really wants to see these guys go at it and work injury in the middle of the season for nothing? it's all just for fun and also a good opportunity for the participants too hang out with family and friends.