NHL adds a day to All-Star Game festivities

In recent years, the usefulness of the NHL All-Star Game has been questioned, and rightly so. The league has tried to innovate, but instead of having a positive effect, the event has lost its lustre.

Let's not forget that last year, there were new events in the Florida-style skills competition. Nick Suzuki, in particular, won the “pitch ‘n' puck”, a mixture of hockey and golf. The outdoor events weren't even live. In short, it was a failure.

Fortunately, these events will not be returning, but there will be something new.

In the hope of rekindling the flame, a third day will now be added to the weekend with three activities on the menu. This means that the All-Star Game will stretch from February 1 to 3, 2024.

On Thursday, the NHL will bring back the concept of a player draft. It was interesting back in the day when you could see players receive awards when they were picked last.

Alex Ovechkin, in 2015, campaigned to be picked last in order to win a car.

In addition to the draft, there will be a ceremony to present the Keith Magnuson Man of the Year award to a former player who has shown perseverance in making the transition to retirement.

Finally, PWHL athletes will showcase their skills in a mini-tournament.

I like the idea of the draft; it's an interesting part, because you can discover another facet of the players' personalities. But why add another day? The event is already less popular than before, so why stretch the elastic?

Of course, revenues will be more interesting, but to what extent and at what price? Fans certainly won't be watching the whole event, and I don't expect a full arena every night. The ideal solution would have been to include the draft on the same day as the skills competition, thus keeping the two-day formula.

Adding another day will certainly not go down well with players and fans alike. We look forward to seeing the results of this decision.

In bursts

– A hard fact.

The CH is a “cute” team, according to Stéphane Waite, but the team isn't making enough progress collectively:

“It's not a better team than last year, we're seeing a lot of progress, but only individual progress.”

Live at from @LangloisMario pic.twitter.com/fD3JChkmxd

– 98,5 Sports (@985Sports) November 28, 2023

– Emergency goalie signed.

#Flames Roster Update: Jacob Markstrom is unavailable this evening due to illness (flu). Jacob was confirmed too sick to play after the 5 pm MT gameday roster transaction deadline. As a result, Dustin Nickel has been signed to an amateur tryout agreement and will backup tonight.

– Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) November 28, 2023

– Nice win for the Carabins.

@Carabins quarterback Jonathan Sénécal overcame a lot of adversity before lifting the Vanier Cup:

“I was resilient and found out that it's not an injury that's going to define me as a football player.” @JonathanSncal2

Live at from @LangloisMario pic.twitter.com/NKUa7G7WBw

– 98,5 Sports (@985Sports) November 28, 2023