Connor McDavid and the NHL met to discuss changes to the All-Star skills competition, and boy, did they get it right. Having players compete in multiple events against each other to have an overall winner is a great idea and should have been done sooner. I don’t like that it was limited to only twelve players, but so be it. The players who placed in the top five each earned points.
The events were the standard fare, but I hate that the fastest skater and hardest shot had only five participants, meaning each player gets a point automatically. Not everyone would be great competition, but they could have had at least six. The competitiveness was great, and you could tell the players were trying, leading to drama about the winner. Well, except for Nikita Kucherov.
Kucherov was so bad like he was purposely not trying. Perhaps he was drunk. The fans booed him mercifully, and he responded with a half-ass wave. I can’t get over how bad Leon Draisaitl is at the shooting accuracy event. For someone who is a great passer and scorer, he’s unfathomably bad, and he got even worse. The best event was the final obstacle course and the dreaded mini nets.
McDavid beat Cale Makar for the one million dollar prize with his strong performance in four of his five events. He also won goalie Alexandar Georgiev $100k because he got off the most shots and made the most saves. McDavid really owned the night in many ways. It’s amazing to me that Georgiev is an All-star with a SV% under .900. PK Subban’s saying to McDavid, you’re now a millionaire, was funny.
Don’t forget the Edmonton Oilers go for 17 straight against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night.
Things I like
- The All-Star game was better than previous seasons, which is odd because it was mostly the same. But it felt like they were trying harder, and goals were more difficult. I guess when you pick your teams, you try more. We had never had shootouts before, and now we had two back-to-back. Auston Matthews’s team won, and he won MVP, but Alex DeBrincat deserved it. I realize Matthews is the hometown boy, but DeBrincat had more points, goals, the shootout winner, and a great steal of McDavid. If that doesn’t deserve it, I don’t know what does. Guest coach Will Arnet is always funny with his coach speak, and then there was guest coach Justin Bieber wearing a ridiculous puffy pink and red coat. But he was humbled to be there.
Things I don’t
- The Los Angeles Kings joined the coach-firing bandwagon and fired Todd McLellan. My first thought was, ugghhh. This is becoming ridiculous. Okay, he had a bad month, and they’re falling down the standings, but that happens. One bad month should not doom your job. These expectations are unrealistic. Furthermore, it’s amazing the Kings were even in the spot they occupied. The Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks, and Vegas Golden Knights are all better teams, and one will go to the Stanley Cup. That means the best the Kings could be is the sixth-best team. That means they’ll lose in the first round. The team is still developing young talent while the past their prime players still perform. The team is where they should be. Firing the coach won’t help.
Fights of the Week
Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.
Mathieu Olivier vs Tyler Tucker
There were only two fights this week, and this was the best.
Stat Line of the Week
1/31/24 Ottawa 3 vs. Detroit 2
| Skater | TOI | G | A | +/- | SOG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.Pinto | 19:08 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
The NHL suspended Shane Pinto for about half the season, but he’s back. In his sixth game back, he had an assist and a beautiful overtime goal. This was the Senators’ second overtime win in a row.
https://www.nhl.com/video/ott-det-pinto-scores-goal-against-alex-lyon-6345969438112
Rankings
The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.
Top 5
- Edmonton
- Vancouver
- Boston
- Tampa Bay
- Florida
Bottom 5
- Chicago
- San Jose
- Anaheim
- Los Angeles
- NY Islanders
NFL Thoughts
I’m pumped for the Super Bowl. I think and hope it will be a close game that goes down to the last play. I’m sticking with the 49ers. As long as the line can protect Brock Purdy, I think he’ll out-duel Patrick Mahomes. He can shake off one interception, but against the Ravens, he was under siege. He used his legs more against the Lions, so he might be able to save himself if the line collapses.