All-Star Overhaul

Yes, it's that time of year again when the hockey world comes together to gripe and complain about the boredom that is induced by the NHL All-Star Game. The NHL finally seems to be listening, as the Skills Competition has been changed to a format that may finally satisfy most fans. However, the All-Star Game will likely be yet another over-hyped pickup game.

It seems that every year more suggestions to make the All-Star Game better are popping up, some more extreme than others. One such gimmick would be to take the approach of Major League Baseball and allow the conference that wins the All-Star Game to host the Stanley Cup Finals. The winner hosts the finals approach was adopted by MLB officials in order to force the players into making the All-Star Game an enjoyable, watchable event. Many, including Western Conference All-Star head coach Mike Babcock, believe this approach is a bad idea for the NHL. "I wouldn't want to see that," Babcock said to NHL.com, "It isn't fair to the team that worked all season to have the best record."

Other approaches incorporate the NHL's past. For example, instead of an All-Star Game featuring the best players from each conference playing against one another, why not have the top twenty All-Stars in the league play the Stanley Cup Champions? Similar to the approach used during part of the 1960's, this approach would allow players that are known for their competitiveness and never-quit play to participate in the All-Star Game. Imagine this year's All-Star Game with George Parros, Brad May, and Todd Marchant lining up against Martin St. Louis, Vinny Lecavalier, and Pavel Datsyuk. The Stanley Cup Champs could be given the privilege of hosting the game as well as the extra revenue that would be generated. The league itself would likely shoot down such a scenario due to the fact that each team would not be guaranteed representation nor a chance to petition hosting the game.

Another scenario that has been suggested is to combine the All-Star Game and the Winter Classic, making an outdoor game an annual event for the NHL. After the success of this year's game between Buffalo and Pittsburgh despite the moments during the game that felt much more like an early Saturday morning pickup game. The feelings of nostalgia brought upon by the similarities between shinny on a pond and the Winter Classic could be exactly what the All-Star Game is yearning for.

For the hockey historians, why not have the All-Star teams chosen by the game's two greatest living coaches, Scotty Bowman and Al Arbour.

Instead of changing the way in which the All-Star Game is played, he NHL could go to the extreme and award an extra point in the standings for every player represented on the winning team.

Any way it goes, it's likely that every attempt to make the NHL All-Star Game more enjoyable will only cause more uproar. Whichever way the league chooses to go, it's obvious that a change is needed.