The NHL All-Star Game

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It is an exhibition game in the middle of the season. There are no points awarded for it and it is all about individual achievement and fun. It is really an event that caters to television, sponsors and the local fans in the community where the game is played.

I watch All-Star games and my only hope is that our players who participate don’t get hurt. I have zero emotional connection to the game.

At season’s end, there is a vote for the best players in the NHL. Alex Ovechkin has been a FIRST team ALL NHL player in each and every year he has played and he was last season’s MVP. That is the All-Star vote that matters.

So it is now time to stop our collective whining here. I didn’t want to mount an All-Star online voting campaign. I didn’t want to expend franchise energy and resources on a program that frankly is about individual stats and not about playoff hockey and the pursuit of a Stanley Cup. I also think that franchises that mount campaigns to support individuals for All-Star games look “small time and unsophisticated” to the media, longtime fans and industry insiders.

That was a decision that I stand by. I am much more concerned with our play of late than I am about the All-Star game balloting process.

We now have many players who have been out for a long time trying to be re-integrated into our team. We also need to find motivation and play with desperation and show hard work and play physical with a big lead in the standings. This is a new experience for this team and right now we have lost our focus and our momentum. All of our energies need to marshaled to get back to being a tight knit team that plays together and is trying to achieve a common goal. We also need to play with a chip on our shoulder. We are not taken seriously yet and the best way to get respect is to win; be a long term playoff performer; and win a Stanley Cup. Everything else will take care of itself if we win a championship. A Stanley Cup clarifies and provides true signal through all of the noise.

I appreciate the media writing supportive and critical articles such as this one and the emails I have received about the All-Star game but to be direct and honest, I don’t care. I don’t want us to waste cycles on this exhibition game any longer. We need to be focused on the next 38 games to qualify for the playoffs. That is all that matters to me and our franchise. 

0 thoughts on “The NHL All-Star Game”

  2. Hello Ted,

    I am a little late with this but with Mike Gartner having his jersey retired, I was thinking how the Caps should retire #14 Garnet “ACE” Bailey’s number.
    With all the dumb things that have been attached to
    9-11 let the Caps be the first to do some good from
    this event.

    Garnet Edward “Ace” Bailey (June 13, 1948 – September 11, 2001), was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and scout who was a member of Stanley Cup and Memorial Cup winning teams. He died at age 53 when pilot hijacker Marwan al-Shehhi crashed United Airlines Flight 175 into the World Trade Center in New York City, during the September 11, 2001 attacks.

    Do the right thing!!

  3. Teddy, I love the post! It’s direct but meaningful. There is no reason to be sidetracked. It’s about “The Caps” relentless determination to win one game at a time. Let’s Go Caps!!!!!!!!!

  4. Thank you! Let’s win a Cup — the rest of it won’t matter. Detroit won the Cup last year — who cares how many of their players played in last year’s All-Star game?

  6. Amen. We need to stop whinning about the All-Star game. Two big games coming tonight and Saturday in Boston.

  9. I agree with you for the most part. The All-Star Game is supposed to be a fun diversion, and while it’s a shame Ovechkin and some of the other Capitals players don’t garner the same sort of popularity around the league’s fans, that’s all it is. A shame. So what if Alex Ovechkin isn’t the most popular guy by fan votes? It’s like saying anyone cares who your high school homecoming court was by the end of the year, because by then, it’s about getting into college (playoffs) and who is graduating at the top of the class (Hart Trophy).

    I do disagree with you about needing to play with “desperation.” After hearing a Brooks Laich interview yesterday, I think the team may be trying _too_ hard, and that’s when stupid mistakes are made. According to Laich, the team felt they let Coach Boudreau down by not winning either of the games this past weekend and therefore not earning Boudreau a spot behind the bench for the All Star Game. I can definitely identify with trying too hard, and just screwing up anyway (just in a different way from not trying hard enough). Look at all the shots on net last night, for instance. It looked more like they were trying so hard to put the puck in that they just shot for the sake of shooting instead of setting up screens and taking quality chances.

    Playing with motivation and determination and never underestimating the opponent, I think that is what is needed in the long run. It seems that the players and the coaches with Washington have a good relationship, and not all teams have that. I think everyone — players, coaches, fans and, obviously the owner! — is hungry for more than just the playoffs. The motivation is there. I’ve seen this team play with determination and an indomitable will to win, so I know they can do it. They need to play every team as if it were game 7 in the playoffs against the Red Wings, and they need to believe they can win, no matter how bad the odds are.

    One of the biggest changes I saw last year was that the team never seemed to give up, even if they were down by a goal or two and only minutes remained — and then they _did_ come back to win. I have seen a few games this year where that will to win even when seemingly out didn’t surface (last night, for example). On the other hand, I also witnessed the 5-4 over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

    This team can do it. Maybe they just need that X-file poster hanging in the locker room, with the UFO replaced with a Stanley Cup, but the same slogan — “BELIEVE”.