NHL All Star Weekend.

It is All Star Weekend and maybe it is time for some of us, myself included, to realize what All Star Weekend is all about.

Sure the game is not what it once was, this has been the case for almost 25 years. If you are 35 years of age or younger, you likely do not know of an All Star game that was not played under its present style. In the modern era of the All Star Game, you will not see any body contact, you will not see blocked shots, you will not see any intensity. What you will see is an amazingly talented game of shinny.

I don't think All Star Weekend is meant to entertain the die-hard hockey fan or the older fan base, although many of us will surely be pleased with this weekends events. All Star Weekend is about pleasing the corporate sponsors, it is about exposure, it about having that casual fan pay more attention to the NHL, it is for the kids. The NHL uses All Star Weekend to grow the game, in many facets,  and I am fine with that.

I will enjoy the skills competition, but will skip the game itself. And that is alright, because the NHL already has me and I am not going any where.

So, don't change the game. Don't make the game more competitive, just leave it the way it is. I can live a few days, during the season, without watching competitive hockey. If it is good for the game and means exposure for the league, then giddy-up!

Sit back, relax and enjoy whatever portion of All Star Weekend that you chose to watch. Come Tuesday, regular season play resumes.