My Highlight of NHL Season, The NHL All-Star Game

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
PHOTOS BY CANDICE EBLING

As the 2017-2018 season winds down, I want to take a moment and reflect on one of the biggest highlights of the year that we experienced just a short couple months ago.

When it comes to experimenting with their All-Star Game, I give the NHL a lot of credit for attempting to create interest amongst it's fan base.

As I was researching this, I couldn't believe how many formats the league has used throughout the years.

The only thing that hasn't changed is every team has at least one representative.

Back in the 1940's, the defending Stanley Cup Champions faced All-Stars from the five other teams during The Original Six Era.

In 1969, the format was geographic as the NHL went to four divisions with the Wales Conference taking on the Campbell Conference.

The first team was voted in by the fans while the remainder of the teams' roster were chosen by the NHL's Hockey Operations Department in consultation with the teams general managers.

In the 1980's the Wales Conference faced the Campbell Conference but what changed was the Eastern teams faced the Western squads.

The 1990's saw the Skills Competition and the Heroes of Hockey get introduced.

In 1994, The Eastern Conference faced the Western Conference.

One of the more interesting concepts occurred from 1998-2002 when the North American All-Stars squared off against the World All-Stars.

On three occasions, there would be a fantasy format which saw two captains pick teams, and this concept was also utilized in the NFL and NBA.

The most recent format change occurred in 2016 with a three-on-three tournament that consisted of four separate All-Star Teams--each representing one of the leagues divisions.

There are three separate 20 minute mini-games in a round robin format. Each team has three skaters and a goaltender on the ice.

The third period is considered the championship game.

Throughout the years, the All-Star Game has been canceled to promote international competition.

In 1979, The Challenge Cup saw the NHL All-Stars play the Soviet Union.

In 1987, Rendez-vous once again featured the NHL All-Stars play the Soviet Union.

Lastly, NHL Players would participate in The Olympics.

Who knows what other changes could occur in the coming years.

I have actually been to three All-Star Games, two as a writer and out of all of them, there is no doubt the most recent change is the best.

My father took me to the NHL All-Star Game at Joe Louis Arena which featured "Mr. Hockey" Gordie Howe in 1980.

Seeing the Skills Competition in person impressed me of the athletic ability of hockey players.

During this story, we spoke to many people not only at the game, but when the Detroit Red Wings visited the Florida Panthers on February 3, 2018, to get their opinions on the three skaters and one goaltender format.

Before talking to players, I asked Commissioner Gary Bettman whether he foresees participation in the Olympics.

"The fact is we find, the clubs find, the owners find that the Olympics are very disruptive on our season, and for that and a whole host of reasons we've been over repeatedly over the last year or so, it didn't make sense for us to attend. Could that circumstance change at some point in the future? I suppose so. But it's not something that we're currently contemplating."

From a management standpoint, there is no better person to speak to other than Detroit Red Wings Senior Vice President and Alternate Governor Jim Devellano.

Devellano is in his 36th season with the Red Wings and has been in the NHL for 51 years.

His tenure with the Red Wings makes him the longest serving hockey employee in the history of the team.

"I think it's very good in an All-Star Game because you have the world's best players and they're all skilled. When you get them open ice like that, they're going to put on a great display, stick handling, scoring and skating.

"The other good thing about it is, you hate to have players hurt in an All-Star Game, and with the open ice, and fewer players, there is less chance of injuries. I think it's good all-around."

What does Devellano think of other formats and is this the best one?

"It is because it got to the point where the players didn't really try very hard. They didn't want to get hurt, hurt other players, so they played soft. But with the three-on-three, there isn't a lot of body checking and it's all skill. So I think it worked out to be a good format."

Here is what some current players had to say about the current format.

Forward Josh Bailey, New York Islanders, formerly Windsor Spitfires.

"I like it. It's good for the All-Star Game, good for the fans to really see the skill and speed. You could see before with the four-on-four, five-on-five, obviously no one wants to get hurt out there, no one wants to run around and hit people. It's a good way to kind of meet in the middle to see the talent of what the league has to offer. So I think it's a good format."

Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues.

"I think it's fun. Part of the All-Star Game is to showcase the skills of the players. I'm sitting on the bench and I'm like it's hard to score goals. You realize how good these goalies are right. It's just the shot or it's a breakaway. Boy, you realize how hard it is to score. It's good. Not only good for us, but to showcase how good the reserves are."

Forward Rickard Rakell, Anaheim Ducks. His Pacific Division defeated the Atlantic Division 5-2 in the Finals.

"I really had a good time and it was fun winning the whole event. I really enjoyed the three-on-three format. After the first game, it was slow paced, but it was nice to pull through."

Forward Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers said it was awesome to play in his first All-Star Game and provided interesting perspectives about the regular reason.

"In real games, you have to defend even harder than you do in these games. But still, you get tired when you run around those guys like (Edmonton Oilers, Connor) McDavid, (Calgary Flames, Johnny) Gaudreau and guys like that. If you lose the side of them, they'll make you pay. Three-on-three is fun to play when you have the puck, but when you don't have the puck, it's not fun."

Goaltender Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens.

"I think it's much better personally. I think the flow of the game is a little bit better because there aren't so many guys standing around. The guys are skating more and there is more room out there. It kind of open things up a little bit, guys not standing still as much. There is more skating room and as a goaltender, it's nice I can play with the puck to get a couple touches in and get an assist or two."

The two former players I spoke to were from the Florida Panthers and Detroit Red Wings at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, FL.

I'm speaking of Bill Lindsay and Paul Woods of the Red Wings.

Lindsay played in the NHL for 14-years and was a member of the 1996 Panthers Eastern Conference Championship team.

He's in his third year as the radio color analyst, and previously spent six seasons as a team television analyst, after spending two years as the club's radio color commentator.

Lindsay has played in more than 750 NHL contests. So he's seen plenty of hockey.

Like everyone in this story, he was impressed with the three skaters and goaltender format.

"It's exciting. I think the players like it and the fans. The All-Star Week you want a celebration and you want a bit of competition. They're playing for some money so that puts a little bit of an edge into it.

"Plus, the three-on-three can show the skill that's in this league. The NHL in my opinion has never had more skill or talent than it has now. There is no better way to showcase it than with the three-on-three. It's absolutely fabulous. It's a great way to showcase the premier players and show how legitimately talented our athletes are.

"I'm not sure the goaltenders love the three-on-three. But you can get exposed. This kind of stuff is magical. The way the players can do it now with this kind of hockey at the pace at which it's played is fun to watch."

Detroit Red Wings General Manager Ken Holland was an advocate for the three-on-three to be played in the regular season in overtime to replace four-on-four.

The NHL took Holland's recommendation and added it to the All-Star Game which has worked so well with the excitement level drastically increasing.

Woods is another player that has seen a lot of hockey.

He played seven seasons with Detroit from 1977-1984 and his career was cut short because of a hip injury.

He has been a radio analyst since the late 1980's.

Woods, 62, is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet and he's quite colorful.

He definitely enjoys the three-on-three format.


"I like it for sure. It's way better than the five-on-five. In the five-on-five, sometimes in games like that, you can hide a little bit. In three-on-three hockey, you're naked out there. You just have to keep up all the time, offensively, defensively otherwise you let your team down. It's a much better format. Again, players get to show their skill more in three-on-three so it's a good idea for the NHL."

When I asked Woods what he thought about the NHL changing formats through the years, he responded, "The thing I like about this is it becomes real competitive because they have some money on the line. So each team or each guy on the winning team can make a $100,000 so there is a reason why to win those hockey games. So it's important and again back to the three-on-three, and the skills competition, there are a lot of good ideas.

"The NHL is a well run league and have made a lot of good decisions on going back to setting the salary cap. They just keep getting better and better, and the All-Star Game is an example of that."

Woods was gleaming about the skills competition and even had some ideas on how to make it better.

"To watch the players in the games all the time, they can't use all those skills. But when you do see the guys and what they can actually do with the puck, with a stick in practice, it's amazing the hand and eye coordination that NHL players have.

"The one thing I would like to see in the fastest skater competition is an actual race. Instead of having a timed race, one guy skating one way, the other guy going the other way, I would like to see a two lap race. The fastest guy around and manage those turns.

"Connor McDavid is a very fast guy, but we have two with Dylan Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou. It would be a very exciting format for the fans."
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It remains to be seen if the NHL continues to make more changes to make the All-Star Game more entertaining.

But I do agree with Woods that fastest skaters competition would be a great change.

When you think of horse and auto racing, track and field, there is nothing like a competition with combative speed.

I give the league a tremendous amount of credit for trying many things until we've reached this point.

The other major sports have also made changes based on poor ratings, lack of intensity, and at one point the NFL nearly eliminated the Pro Bowl.

After this experience in Tampa Bay, watching the skills competition, it's easier to gain a deeper appreciation of the talent these players do possess.

I look forward to returning to another one when the situation presents itself, but will  enjoy it more when I watch it on TV as well.

It will be interesting to see with the Red Wings influx of young, athletic, skilled speedsters which ones will appear in the NHL's mid-season big stage.

The Red Wings have been stockpiling draft choices for the next two seasons, so it will be interesting to see what new talent they acquire as the organizational skill level improves.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.com and is a member of Detroit Sports Media. Candy Ebling also contributed to this story.

Who are the Phoenix Coyotes?

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

They are a team that once played in the worst NHL arena where I've ever seen a sporting event!

When the Phoenix Coyotes moved to Arizona in 1996, they played in the America West Arena for eight years which was barely large enough to fit a standard NHL rink. The building was hastily re-engineered to accommodate the 200 foot rink, and the configuration left a portion of one end of the upper deck hanging over the boards and ice, obscuring almost a third of the rink and one goal from several sections.

As a result, the capacity had to be cut down to just over 16,000---the second smallest rink at the time. For the fans to have to rely on the scoreboard to watch the action was absurd. The only thing that I gained out of my experience when watching two Red Wings games in The Valley of the Sun, was they had a tremendous following with snowbirds in the Southwest in 2000. After watching recent games, that hasn't changed.

With all due respect, the Coyotes should have played at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum which even though the building holds 13, 730 for hockey, it would have been a more fan friendly venue. The Coyotes could have charged more for the tickets but the fans would have gotten their money's worth because there isn't a bad seat in the house. In the late 1980's, I saw two Phoenix Suns games and this venue gave me a cushy feeling like the old Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

But the Coyotes are a franchise which was supposed to build a new arena in Scottsdale and even had a shopping mall demolished to accommodate the stadium. But those plans fell through.

The presence of Wayne Gretzky as a minority owner and coach had little impact as the Coyotes eventually went bankrupt.

This franchise has gone through numerous ownership changes, has had very little success on the ice as it finally made its first playoff appearance since 2002. Even announcer Darren Pang bolted for the St. Louis Blues amidst the instability.

Yet with all of these problems, I give the NHL a lot of credit for realizing it has a Sleeping Giant sitting in the Southwest as it purchased the Coyotes for $140 million from owner Jerry Moyes on October 26, 2009. The sale was finalized on November 3, 2009.

By doing this, Commissioner Gary Bettman has a first class hockey facility in the Jobing.com Arena which does hold 17,125 and cost $180 Million to build. Playing in the Glendale Sports Complex next to the Arizona Cardinals who play in the University of Phoenix Stadium, with winning comes the sellouts as both teams have experienced.

As I mentioned before, Phoenix could be a great hockey market with all of the transplants. There are plenty of "Winged Wheel" jerseys and fans in the area. The same could apply to other cold weather large market teams. Especially Chicago which does have both of it's baseball teams in the area during Spring Training.

With Bettman and the NHL buying this franchise and determined to keep the team there, he's been able to maintain rivalries with the Dallas Stars, LA Kings and the Anaheim Ducks. These three markets also have teams that make their Spring Training homes in Arizona.

But Bettman got the best break he could receive in this years playoffs. He has the Detroit Red Wings and the Phoenix Coyotes locked up in an excellent series which is tied 2-2. The Red Wings are the first ever playoff opponent for the Coyotes at the Jobing.com Arena.

I can't believe that Versus showed the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night instead of the Red Wings and Coyotes. Even though Versus wanted Sidney Crosby, you don't bypass two USA based franchises in a competitive series.

However, Bettman does have the Coyotes and Red Wings on NBC for two Sundays in a row. It's a match-up that features a marquee franchise and a resurrected one which saw Gretzky resign as coach two weeks before the start of the regular season, yet managed to win 50 games and locking up the fourth seed in the Western Conference.

I never thought I'd see the Coyotes on the NBC Game of the Week. But the ratings intrigue is indeed there. You have two great media markets featuring a dynasty and a feel good story. The Red Wings always produce good ratings which is why they're constantly featured on NBC.

I'll never forget recently at dinner with my father and nephew Branden Morganroth that when we were talking about hockey, when I was growing up, the Red Wings rarely made the playoffs plus the NHL rarely got national television coverage.

My father reminded Branden that he's had it pretty good. I also know that the Red Wings success has motivated Branden into playing hockey himself as he pursues his dream looking to eventually attain professional status.

How things have changed. The Red Wings have made the playoffs 19 straight years and Branden's never seen his local NHL team ever miss the postseason. I hope Branden doesn't miss a post-season game and with Red Wings General Manager Ken Holland in charge, they're in good hands to keep the winning tradition in tact.

As for the Coyotes, even though their national appearances are at the Joe Louis Arena, any exposure figures to give them a boost!

If Jerry Reinsdorf is successful in purchasing the franchise and he's able to negotiate a sensible lease at the Jobing.com Arena, then Bettman looks like a genius for persevering and keeping this franchise afloat.

Even though the Coyotes have lost hundreds of millions of dollars and the greatest icon in hockey, I believe that if Reinsdorf lands this team, like the Chicago Bulls & White Sox, I'd predict they would be a consistent winner and championship contender. If the Anaheim Ducks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes could hoist the Stanley Cup, there is no reason that Coyotes shouldn't be able to celebrate as well.

By the same token, if Reinsdorf is unable to save this franchise, then Bettman may find himself out of options and it will end up moving to another market with a fresh start and new ownership. Although I'm not a gambler, the safe money is on Reinsdorf to make it work and $180 Million for a stadium won't become a waste of money.

Since the White Sox train in Glendale at Camelback Ranch with the LA Dodgers and the Bulls make an annual appearance to face the Phoenix Suns, there is no doubt that Reinsdorf can multi-task without shoveling snow.

It would be an unbelievable accomplishment if he's able to win a championship in three major sports leagues, the NBA, MLB and the NHL.

But please Jerry, don't let the fans throw snakes on the ice. They give me an edgy feeling and even NBC Play By Play Commentator Mike Emrick said that he could handle octopuses but hated snakes.

Yet, for now, the Red Wings get a "Major Assist" in putting the once dormant Coyotes on the Hockey Map. The Coyotes even employ former Red Wings Announcer Dave Strader, who was at the beginning of the Red Wings long playoff run.

On Sunday, NBC will once again remind us that they couldn't be happier to have their "Real Business Parter" The Detroit Red Wings making another run at the Stanley Cup. The Red Wings won four Stanley Cups in an 11-year span and have made the playoffs in 25 of the last 27.

In a year where the Butler Bulldogs made it to the NCAA Mens Basketball Championship Game, the Coyotes success is just another feel good story and we're just four months into the new decade.

Scott Morganroth's Blog can be seen at www.scottsports33.com and he can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com.

Hockey's Spring Madness

     By Scott Morganroth

     While other sports post-season's are fun to watch, it's still hard to match the excitement of the NHL Playoffs.

     This is a tournament where at crunch time the officials call fewer penalties and swallow the whistle. If there is a penalty, it's going to have to be an obvious one because that one power play could be the decisive blow to a team's quest to put their name on the famed Stanley Cup Trophy.

     How about those marathon contests when the goaltenders show how valuable they are and make the Boston & New York City Marathons look like the 40-yard dash. We've seen premature whistles that can cost a team a goal when the official didn't see the puck with players scrambling in front of the net to jam the biscuit and put it in the basket. Those tired legs for the rest of the players remind me of jello in the grocery store. 

     How many other sports have each team shaking the other's ones hands when their series are complete? Sportsmanship is a great message to send to the youngsters watching.

     The NHL was fortunate to have three Game 7's for the first time since 2001, as the three conference semifinals went the distance. That's the good news. The bad news is, how many people actually saw these games on Versus? Not as many as there would be if any of the ESPN Networks or the Turner Stations had the television rights, or perhaps NBC would have added a game or two.

     So while NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman can be proud that he had outstanding match-ups and competition, the exposure could have been much better!

     But now the Frozen Four does consist of four USA based teams.

      Two of them are original six teams that are meeting for the first time since the 1995 Western Conference Finals. The Chicago Blackhawks against the Detroit Red Wings series figures to do be a dandy with cities which have storied traditions. While there will be no Gordie Howe against Bobby Hull on the frozen pond, the goaltending match up features Detroit's Chris Osgood, who has won three Stanley Cups against Nikolai Khabibulin, the net minder who led the Tampa Bay Lightning to the promised land.

     Khabibulin posted his 41st career shutout on April 12 blanking the defending champs 3-0 in Chicago. The Blackhawks also defeated Detroit on April 11, 4-2 however the Red Wings were without Marian Hossa and Kris Draper for both games and Nicklas Lidstrom for the finale.

     The upstart Blackhawks did an outstanding job winning two hard fought series in Western Canada against the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks. There is no doubt that Coach Joel Quenneville is telling his team to not become too over confident because his team swept the Red Wings during the final weekend of the season.

     What few people realize is the one thing these two cities have in common is Chicago is the home of the original comedy club called "The Second City" while Detroit added a "Second City" downtown.

     The Red Wings Game 7 heroics came with three minutes left as Daniel Cleary scored the game winning goal battling for the puck in front of the net for a 4-3 triumph.

     The NHL got a break when the Boston Bruins versus Carolina Hurricanes series went into overtime. These games started 30 minutes apart so the country didn't see all of both games. Bettman should have moved one of these games to Friday May 15 because as it turned out, there were no NHL or NBA Playoff Games on any network and hockey would have had the big stage all to itself.

     However, it didn't but as I just mentioned, overtime saved the NHL as Scott Walker scored the game winning goal 18:46 into the extra period to lift Carolina to the next round. It turned out to be Walker's first goal in is 25th playoff appearance.

     Boston was trying to accomplish what no other Bruins team has ever done and that's win a series when it trailed 3-1 but that was not meant to be as they dropped to 0-21 with two of those series reaching seven games.

     NBC had it's dream match-up a year ago when the Red Wings faced the Pittsburgh Penguins.      Can you imagine what the ratings would be if the Blackhawks or Red Wings faced the Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals with these original six teams in large media markets?

     It's still hard to believe that the Bruins haven't won a championship since the early 1970's when Phil Esposito, Johnny Bucyk, Bobby Orr, Gerry Cheevers, Wayne Cashman to name a handful were fun to watch. 

     With the recent championship runs of the Red Sox, Celtics and New England Patriots, it's hard to believe that the Bruins have the longest drought in one of the best sports towns in the country. But the Bruins will once again have to wait until next year.

      Maybe by the time we see an original six finals, the national television contract will be greatly improved.

     While the final Game 7 didn't match the other's, the series between the Penguins and Washington Capitals was a classic. Washington's Alex Ovechkin outscored Sidney Crosby 14-13 in points but it didn't matter in the clinching game as the Capitals dropped a 6-2 decision.

     Crosby's first Game 7 of his career showed poise and no nervousness as he scored a pair of goals to raise his NHL leading playoff goal total to 12. In the Capitals series, Crosby has eight goals and five assists for 13 points while Ovechkin had 14 points. But Ovechkin will be trading his hockey stick for a golf club this summer.

     As we move forward, NBC still has a rematch of Detroit against Pittsburgh to look forward to and ironically, on February 1st, the Peacock Network watched the Steelers defeat the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl 43 in Tampa. The only thing we won't see with this possible match up is Al Michaels and John Madden calling the action. 

     Yet how many Americans would be disappointed if Al Michaels and Ken Dryden called this series as they did the Miracle on Ice in 1980. But there is no doubt that Mike "Doc" Emerick and Ed Olczyk will do a fine job. The only thing they'll do differently in the Red Wings and Penguins sequel is that Hossa and Red Wings backup Ty Conklin have switched from the Gold and Black to the Red and White uniforms.

      But I'm looking forward to more intense hockey, officials swallowing their whistles letting the stars play, overtimes, etc. as all four teams have eight wins but there are eight more to go to reach 16 in their quest to raise the most prestigious trophy in all of sports.

     Scott Morganroth can be reached at Scottsports33@aol.com