Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 3.19

www.afootinthecrease.com

The NHL all star game is coming up in just under two weeks. This year’s game takes place in the hockey metropolis of Atlanta, you know, the city that was supposed to host it in 2005 before the lockout occurred. Now instead of the traditional skills competition that we have seen in previous all star games, this year’s NHL glitter fest will feature a skills competition with a twist on the one event that the league even includes in regular season competition: the shootout.

The shootout event will be changed to an NBA style slam dunk competition where players will be expected to come up with all sorts of trick shots, between the legs dekes, and lacrosse style goals instead of the conventional way of shooting. This is yet another reason to suggest Gary Bettman is still employed by the NBA, a notion that frequent AFITC contributor Mark D. VandenBerg alluded to last week, one that may not actually be so very far fetched.

Kind of ironic is it not to attempt to grow and showcase the game with new gimmicks at the all star game in the city it was supposed to be in during the year the league arguably did the most irreparable damage of all: canceling an entire season.

As breath taking as a shootout competition with trick moves might be to watch, explain to me again how attempting to promote the game with a gimmick people will never see in regular season competition is beneficial. New observers will see these flashy moves, expect to see them the next time they tune into a hockey game, and then be disappointed with the general lack of excitement compared with this trick shot competition.

Call me crazy but marketing the game with things that are not permitted in regular competition cannot be the best way to go. How about concentrating on producing an all star game that resembles something more exciting than glorified pond hockey? But hey, all that was just rigamarole.