With the goal of creating buzz and energy around NHL
All-Star weekend there is no denying that last night’s fantasy draft was a
rousing success. After days of talk
around the nation and every office, blog, and TV commentator doing their own
mock draft the real thing came last night in Raleigh. The storylines were there going in. Would Eric Staal pick his brother? Would the
Sedin twins finally be separated? Would the
hometown Hurricanes all play together?
The setup had the feel of a game show, with the captains on
each side of the stage and the chairs above for the teams to assemble in. The combination of fantasy draft and throwback
to youth in the school days picking format wondering who would be last created
a buzz the weekend has not had in many years.
In the end Eric Staal would fulfill all his necessary
obligations to his team, his family and even grab a Sedin while he was at. Nicklas Lidstrom would take advantage of the
requirements Staal had to make by grabbing the more talented roster. That is not to say that Staal does not have excellent
players on his team because these are all All-Stars, but Lidstrom has players
that have more familiarity with one another, which should help in the game
itself.
During the telecast the players themselves did their best to
roll with the punches and even play to the mood in their interviews whether it
be Marc Staal acting crushed or Jonathan Toews looking totally aggrevated with
Patrick Kane. The level of personality
on display can only help the sport as a whole when you rarely see players
beyond Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin used to promote the game.
This had to be what Brendan Shanahan, League's Vice
President of Hockey and Business Development, had envisioned when he came up
with the idea of the draft. More than possibly
any other league the NHL All-Star weekend had grown stale and uninteresting to
the public because the weekend truly lacked the best things about the
sport. Hockey is a sport when at its
best is about the pride, the passion and physicality of the game and few if any
of those things happen in the All-Star game itself. The game is a highlight fest marked by the
utter lack of hitting or defense and leaves the fans wanting something
more. The Fantasy Draft might not cure
the problems in Sunday’s game alone, but it gave buzz to the weekend and the
NHL has to hope that there will be some carry-over from Friday through the
weekend.
There are still a few talking points remaining for the rest
of the weekend like the Sedin twins playing against one another and some
teammates squaring off, but will the buzz of the draft be able to carry over? If it does not, then some will look at the
overall move negatively, but at least for one night the NHL was the talk of the
sports world, and that is always a good thing.
