What happened to the NHL's All-Star Game?

When it was first reported in fall of 2015 that the NHL was considering adopting a three-on-three format for the stagnant All-Star Game, Sidney Crosby’s reaction was mostly indifferent.

“Yeah, why not?” Crosby said, with a shoulder shrug, when asked about the proposed change.

His reaction was far more upbeat for the caveat the NHL dangled to the NHLPA to get the group’s approval for the format change.

A bye week.

“I like that a lot,” Crosby said with a wide smile when asked about the prospect of getting several days off during the regular season.

With the NHL convening in St. Louis for the league’s All-Star Game — which is really a tournament of three games these days — the game has become a Sisyphean task for the NHL’s top players.

Forward Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights are among players opting to skip this year’s game. In years past, other all-time greats such as Crosby and Red Wings defensemen Nicklas Lidstrom have skipped.

To coax players into participating, the NHL makes those who do not play sit out their team’s first game after the All-Star break in a suspension of sorts, though the league does not consider it a formal suspension.

Even with that caveat, 12 players will sit out this year’s game either because of personal choice or injury, as in the case of Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel (right shoulder).

Once upon a time, the All-Star Game, when it was still just one game, was a much bigger and anticipated event. Now, it almost feels like little more than an interruption in the schedule.

How did we get here?

Here are a few factors.

Television — At the Civic Arena during the 1990 All-Star Game, Mario Lemieux ripped things up with four goals and led the Wales Conference to a 12-7 victory against the Campbell Conference. He did so on a national television audience for NBC.

“I think it was a great opportunity to show the public that I’m a good hockey player,” Lemieux said to reporters following the game. “It was on a national network, and I wanted to prove that I could play with the best.”

The television landscape in 1990 was much, much different than 2020. For one, it was actually on television and not on a phone or tablet.

Hockey on television was much harder to come by for Americans in the early 1990s, and often, the All-Star Game was the only game on any of the “Big Three” networks for the entire season. Depending on what part of the continent you lived on, that might be your only opportunity all season to watch Lemieux or Wayne Gretzky.

Today, you can watch every game that involves Crosby, Ovechkin or Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid from almost any corner of the globe, provided you’ve paid your cell phone bill.

Olympics — When Crosby scored the winning overtime goal for Canada in the gold medal game of the 2010 Olympic tournament and received his medal in front of his fellow Canadians, it was an iconic moment.

When Crosby won the All-Star Game MVP and was given a mid-size SUV in front of a partially engaged crowd of corporate clients in San Jose, it was a meh moment.

The NHL has pulled the plug on participation in the Olympics for the time being, but the toothpaste can’t be put back in the tube.

Watching an Olympic tournament is a showcase of all-stars playing with real passion for their homeland. The All-Star Game, where the only emphasis is on avoiding injuries, pales in comparison.

Furthermore, the NHL long ago devalued the All-Star Game when it canceled contests in 2006, ’10 and ’14 so the Olympics could be the exclusive showcase of hockey’s top players.

The NHL is certainly within its rights to skip future Olympic participation given the risks the league takes to make its players available for minimal benefit. But there’s no way to ignore the Olympics are a far more glorious showcase for the world’s top players.

Outdoor games — On New Year’s Day, the NHL found a way to pack 85,630 people in Dallas’ Cotton Bowl to watch two middling Central Division teams in the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars for this season’s Winter Classic.

The notion of watching Blake Comeau’s Stars take on Ryan Ellis’ Predators wasn’t the attraction. The attraction was the attraction.

Outdoor games have become the league’s keynote event, even if the league has over-saturated the novelty of playing outdoors with several games a season. The All-Star Game, played in one of the NHL’s generic, antiseptic arenas, is blase in comparison.

Follow the Penguins all season long.