Mailbag: Midseason classic a miss with readers

The recent four days of inactivity during the NHL regular season provided rest for most of the players, but readers worked overtime to provide their opinions, objections and ideas with regards to the 56th All-Star game in Atlanta, won by the Eastern Conference on Sunday, 8-7.

A sampling of those emails follow along with my comments in italics.

ALL-STAR IMPRESSIONS

The best thing about the All-Star Game was NHL commissioner Gary Bettman getting booed when introduced on the ice at the end of the game. And people think there are no hockey fans in Atlanta.

Andrew Petnuch

College Park, Md.

That reaction is not exclusive to Atlanta; Bettman gets it whenever his name is announced wherever he goes in the league.

I don't believe fans got what they wanted with a high-scoring All-Star Game. I feel like most of the common fans that a tight, hard-fought physical game with a 3-2 score is what we want to see. I think this is the biggest problem with the NHL today, it's marketed for people who aren't going to watch anyway.

Chris Hodge

Lake Forest, Calif.

Give me a break. The All-Star Game is a farce. It's not hockey, it's 60 minutes of so-called entertainment. Hitting is part of the game and it's left out. Having to pay extra bucks for a watered-down exhibition is highway robbery.

Jake Brown

Rick Nash should have been the MVP. That coupled with Pascal Leclaire's All-Star slap in the face is a black eye for the league. Are you telling me Leclaire would have been a worse option than the sieve Chris Osgood in net at the beginning of the game?

Ben

Columbus, Ohio

I agree, Nash should have won the award. Then again, the past four All-Star MVPs before Sunday came off the losing side.

Am I the only one who did not miss Sidney Crosby at the All-Star Game? How refreshing it was to hear from all the other players and not have his name thrown at me like it has so many times before.

Karen Bauer

Philadelphia

TELEVISION WOES

The NHL feels a need to open with four games in Europe next season, but when the league's best of the best play an All-Star game it can not even be viewed on network television in the United States. How do they ever expect to build a fan base?

Terry Borton

Scottsdale, Ariz.

That's great, I live in Cleveland and I can't watch hockey because Time Warner doesn't carry Versus. I haven't seen a game in three years, unless you count what little is on NBC.

Edward Adams

Cleveland

How in the world can the NHL expect to get more people interested in hockey when the All-Star Game and many other regular-season games are televised on Versus? There are very few people in our area who have that channel. If it would have been on a network channel or a channel that carries the Penguins, I am sure more people would watch it. It's a no brainer to me.

Donna Gray

Pittsburgh

Whether right or wrong, Versus had exclusive rights to Sunday's game.

I can't understand why, with no major sporting event going on Sunday, the NHL could not showcase its talent and product on a national network. It's just another missed opportunity for a league needing all the support it can muster and another disappointment for the fans of this fast-paced game played by some of the finest, skilled players in the world.

J. Gallucci

West Warwick, R.I.

I subscribe to the Center Ice package on Dish Network, yet was not able to watch the All-Star Game because we do not subscribe to Versus. That's not right. That game should be on one of the free networks to get hockey more exposure, and at the very least available to people who purchase Center Ice.

Karl Gist

Duluth, Minn.

The bottom line is the league shot itself in the foot in terms of national television when it went dark during the lockout. Versus is the best the league could do coming out of it, and it's something that will likely change.

SKILLS NEED SOME WORK

The NHL has blown it again big time. I used to love the All-Star skills competition. What I saw this year was a huge joke. What was this obstacle course? I saw a player stickhandle for five feet, saucer passes, one-timers into an empty net, and goalies trying to basically clear a puck. These are basic fundamentals for kids in peewee hockey, a far cry from what I would call a showcase of skills. Also, the fastest skater competition was very embarrassing. If you really want to show people that hockey is the fastest sport on earth, stick to the old format of racing around the entire rink. And finally, a shootout that was basically a free-for-all that I kept hearing was supposed to rival the NBA's version of the slam dunk competition.

Casey Guskie

Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The skills contest that was suppose to be a slam-dunk type of competition could be easily fixed by combining it with the shoot-at-the-target competition. Eliminate the goalie and have the skater do the fancy moves, and then try to hit one of the goal targets. Award points only if a target is hit. Otherwise the event with a goalie does not work.

David Mimeles

San Jose, Calif.

You are right on when it comes to criticizing the NHL's new tactics in the super skills competition. Notice the horrendous camera work by Versus during the opening relay event? They were a split-second late to follow the puck the entire time. How about the incorrect timing and tracking of the players during the fastest skater event? And how could you even have the fastest skater event with Marian Gaborik and Scott Niedermayer watched from the sideline? What a joke.

Adam V.

Tannersville, Pa.

EUROPEAN VACATION

Am I the only one who has a problem with the Victoria Cup idea? Why is it that the last-place New York Rangers are picked to showcase the NHL against the champions from Europe? Shouldn't we be sending over the Stanley Cup champions and make it a true contest of champions?

Josh

San Jose, Calif.

Maybe the Rangers will still win the Cup.

The Victoria Cup is an interesting idea for the NHL, but why pick the teams to play for it in January? How about have the Stanley Cup champion play the European league champion and have it mean something? Typical NHL with a good idea yet not fully thought through.

Mark Duford

Brownstown, Mich.

It seems like the Detroit Red Wings would have been a natural to play the game in Stockholm considering they have seven Swedes on the team.

Fred

The Red Wings are too smart of an organization to add a trip to Europe at the outset of the season when they know they have a ton of travel to face playing in the West.

NO ROOM FOR SHOWMANSHIP

The greatest thing about hockey is that there are very few, if any, individual celebrations during the games. I have all but given up on the NFL and the NBA is not too far behind. When a player needs to do a dance/gesture/taunt for doing his job, then that is not the kind of sport I want to watch.

Luke

Minnesota

Hockey doesn't need showboating, leave that to the NFL and NBA. Can you imagine a goalie making a save then doing the moonwalk across the ice? Hockey is the last true team sport, let's hope it stays that way.

Mike Y

Erie, Pa.

In your column, "The Show Must Go On", you did not mention the code. Is it true that excessive celebration is against the code, because it shows a lack of respect?

Chris Noyes

Boston

It's part of hockey culture to deflect success away from the individual and on to the team.

LOOSE PUCKS

The Ducks won't make the playoffs? Are you serious? A team with Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger, coached by Randy Carlyle, and they're not making the playoffs?

Mike K.

Long Beach, Calif.

I've definitely been misquoted. What I said was the Ducks must earn 35 points in their final 29 games to reach the playoffs. They were on pace for 93 at the break, and that might not be enough, it hasn't been the last two years in the West.