I agree about the AS game/skills competition being bland and uninteresting. The NFL has abandoned it, the NBA AS game is a track meet with a bouncy ball, and the NHL's AS event was a pale imitation of even that, only with skates. I haven't watched it in a decade, just the bits that make it to the talking heads shows. Only MLB's game is interesting, and the HR derby is now meh. Sayonara to the whole idea. The only good thing about it is by this time, most of the players get a much appreciated break. The selection process is suspect. There are a couple players on each team that made me say, "Who?" And where's Mark Scheiffele, the top player on the No. 1 team? That's such bullshit. Oh, he plays where? In Winnipeg? Half the country doesn't know where that is - or rather they don't want to.
It does feel contrived to some extent, as it lacks the legitimacy of the Olympics or world championships. It feels like the NHL invented something they could win. But at least the stiff-necks from the IIHF have no control in it. The teams are made up entirely of NHL players, so they're not really "national" teams. Also the US has 335 million people (but only maybe what, 10% are on hockey playing regions, Canada 40, Sweden 10-11, and Finland 5.5. I don't know how to reconcile the lack of Russia and Chechia.
I record the games and watch them starting about an hour behind, so I can FFWD through all the hokey opening ceremony pageantry, the anthems, and the indigenous land claims stuff that's everywhere else in the country (thanks Justin). Chris Cuthbert is well beyond his best before date. Every time somebody does something he sounds like it's the first time he ever saw it. At this point he's little more than an NHL cheerleader. No wonder Bettman has him in that role.
