NHL All Star Game

The NHL All Star game was a great game filled with skilled players of all ages and teams. The East wasn't able to continue their winning ways from the night before. The West won the game 12-9. Daniel Briere (who actually used to play for the Springfield Falcons) lead the way in scoring with a goal and four assists and won the MVP award. Marian Hossa and Joe Sakic also contributed 4 assists each. Boston Bruin defensemen Zdeno Chara continued his strong showing with two goals. It was a very exciting game that I know I missed the past two years. Seeing all the great players on the ice at once (or as Versus called it "seeing the stars aligned") was extremely exciting and entertaining.

Versus also had decent coverage. There were things I liked about it and things I hated about it. First let's start with the negatives. The rail cam might be the dumbest invention ever. The game of hockey moves too fast for a camera to react to it. The only time it was somewhat cool was when there was a break away or they were using it for replays. I also miss the old ESPN announcers. Bill Clement was there, but it isn't the same without Darren Pang and Barry Melrose. Bring back the old announcers and that will be a step in the right direction. The best part of the Versus coverage was the players wearing the microphones. I thought the best time was during the third period when Marty Turco was wearing the mic while playing goalie and holding conversations with the announcers. It provided a side of the players that we rarely get to see as well as giving us more knowledge about the game and about the goalie position. I love hearing the communication between the players and seeing them have fun. Other than that though, Versus coverage was terrible. They tried to do way too much with different camera angles and close ups of the players. The one thing that pissed me off was the camera zooming in on a player while there was a play going on. I don't need to see the facial hair of the player while there is a scoring chance at the other end of the ice.

Hope everyone else who watched the game enjoyed it as well. I'm excited to see what happens over the second half of the season and if the Bruins can play consistently and make a playoff push. Right now my hopes aren't up, but maybe after a trade or 2 or 3 they will be ready to make the push. I will be posting later about the J.D. Drew signing and what I have to say might surprise some people. Enjoy boys and girls. Check back later tonight or tomorrow for the other update.