The NHL put on a show for their all star weekend. It wasn't without controversy, but there was so much to love in the display the NHL put on. Give them this, on the same weekend the NFL held their pro bowl, the NHL showed that taking a few risks can make the 'exhibition' competitive and a great watch for their fans. They experimented with a 3-on-3 format for the actual game in an effort to force players to care rather than loaf around during the 5-on-5 normal All Star Game, and man did it work. In honor of the three-on-three format, here's my three thoughts on how the NHL pulled this off.
1.) The NHL became the first sport in the modern era to make their players care about the All Star Game outcome.
The MLB used to have the claim for having an All Star Game that mattered, with there being a true rivalry between the AL and NL back in the day. Free Agency, interleague play, satellite TV and numerous other factors ended that. Well, the NHL figured out a way to make people care. First, they made this about divisions and not conferences. I actually think there is some inherent rivalry between the two divisions in each conference - specifically in the West where the Pacific Division all stars were probably told how stacked everyone found the Central. Second, they made it into a tournament. A normal game becomes bogged down in the length and the 'exhibition' element of a one-game situation, one where there is money for the winner and loser. Here, just by making it a four team tournament, there was a sense of bragging rights at stake. The players don't want to go home early. They don't want to be seen as losers when there's just so few of them. Finally, the three-on-three format is a hit. It allows there to be more ice for players to play with, and it forces the players to not loaf. Too often in a 5-on-5 plodding game players could just slow it down and mill around. In a three-on-three you can't really do that.
The NHL got a dream set of three games. The first three-on-three showcased many things that the three-on-three gave us: many, many odd man rushes and end-to-end action, and even featured great goaltending. It also featured players playing defense, and some strategy to win the game, like the Metro division pulling their goalie to try to tie the game. It was nothing like we've seen in an All Star game before. The Western Conference played a more normal game, ending 9-6, but even that was a credit to more about great play from the offensive stars than listless defense and hapless goaltending. If anything, that matchup featured some of the best saves of the night, including an absolutely stellar stretch save by Jon Gibson.
The final, game, though, was probably everything the NHL hoped this format would lead itself to. It was an All-Star game, 20 minutes of top NHL players going end to end, and ending 1-0. Not because the players stopped skating, but because they were trying really hard. There was bodying, if not checking. There was definitely back checking. There was awesome saves. There was great play, tough play in the corners. Players extending their shifts, not wanting to get off the ice. The final goal was scored by Corey Perry, and everyone reacted like it was a real game and a breakthrough goal. There was a sense of real celebration when the Pacfic Divisional pulled it off. This was a perfect storm, we saw three different outcomes in terms of score that detailed just how variable this game can be. Next year's game in LA has a lot to live up to.
2.) The Jon Scott Situation Ended Up Great for All Parties
For those who didn't follow, a grassroots campaign, first championed by Jeff Marek and Greg Wyshynski (of the stellar Marek vs. Whysynski podcast), ended up voting Jon Scott, a noted enforcer thought of as a lug, as captain of the Pacific Division. Marek and Whysynki did it for two reasons. First, the idea of having an enforcer, a seemingly 'unskilled player', play in a 3-on-3 game was a fascinating idea. Second, the NHL has limited the fans impact on voting so much, going from where they could vote for the whole starting lineup to just one guy, the 'captain' for each division. Scott easily won the fan voting, despite him pleading with fans to not vote for him. Of course, after he was announced as the winner, the fun started. First, the NHL tried to pressure him to not go for the game, to which he declined, understandably saying both that this is the first time he'll ever have a chance and that the fans have spoken. Then, the Phoenix Coyotes traded him to Montreal, who moved him straight to the minors. By this, he wouldn't be allowed to play.
And then the fans lost their minds. They demanded Scott play in the game. They saw the NHL pulling the strings on the whole thing. The NHL finally gave in and allowed Scott to play in the game and take his role as a captain of the Pacific Division, and seemingly unknowingly turned Jon Scott into a folk hero. The fans, despite many of them disliking the Scott groundswell, started to back Scott as their champion, their man - the everyguy getting his chance to play in the spotlight, and both sides played it brilliantly. Jon Scott was the fan favorite from the first time he was introduced on Saturday Night's Skills Competition. He got a standing ovation when he got up to take his attempt at the 'Hardest Shot'. He was given loud cheers, only matched by those for the hometown Nashville players, during Sunday's game. When he scored not once, but twice, the roof almost came down. It couldn't have played out any better, especially for Jon Scott.
The fairy-tale ending was Jon Scott winning MVP - which he did. What wasn't even part of those dream scenarios was him actually, arguably deserving it. Jon Scott did not seem out of place skating three on three with the best players in the league. His second goal, a snap shot high over Devan Dubnyk on a break-away was a skillfull play. It was a legitimate goal that if one of the real all stars would have scored it would have been raved. It was for Scott as well. The night ended with Jon Scott winning the MVP and then going over and picking up the Million Dollar Check from Gary Bettman - as we all thought it would when this whole drama started in the first place.
3.) Silently, Gary Bettman was one of the Big Winners
Gary Bettman, despite him and the league office getting pilloried for their handling of 'Le Affair Scott', secretly really won the night. First, the obvious part was him getting an extension through 2022, a nice reward for a guy who has done a reasonably good job of building the league. This likely puts him squarely in the center for the next potential work stoppage, but Gary Bettman got what he wanted, and honestly, what fans of the league should want. Through the issues with Roger Goodell, and some of the sheen of the David Stern era coming off, Gary Bettman's era of the NHL is starting to seem a lot better. The plain facts is the value of the NHL has quintupled since Bettman took over. The league is far, far stronger now than it was when he took over.
The weekend itself was secretly a celebration of Bettman's impact on the NHL. The game took place in Nashville. From beginning to end the players and fans attending could not say better things about the way Nashville hosted the event. Part of that is due to Nashville being an awesome city, but it was also partly due to Nashville showing itself as a great hockey market. One of Bettman's first initiatives was the expand the league into the American south, moving a few franchises and opening one's in Florida, Tampa, San Jose, Anaheim, Atlanta and Nashville. They didn't all work, but four of those six did. The Stars have a solid presence, Anaheim has a foothold in the LA area, San Jose is now fully a hockey market, Tampa Bay has a long sell-out streak and has been able to retain fans better than the Rays, and finally, Nashville is hockey mad. Without Bettman, that game isn't in Nashville. He threw hockey franchises at a dartboard of the US Map, to see what sticks. More stuck than even he probably imagined.
Finally, the new format of the All Star game was the league taking a risk. The NHL has never gotten enough credit for taking risks with its game. They've changed up OT to remove ties, first going to a shootout and then going to a 3-on-3 format to avoid shootouts (the regular season 3-on-3 has been amazing). They've altered rules to increase offensive play. They went through a large realignment that impacted historic franchises, like moving Detroit to the Eastern Conference. And they've changed their all star game format to make it matter. Going to three-on-three was a risk, but they hit a home run. Gary Bettman is not a great commissioner, but the booing of him is now fully for tradition rather than a real reflection of how he's ran the league.
