Los Angeles (AFP) – The National Hockey League’s all-star game has returned to showcasing the league’s top talent after last year’s controversy in which fans voted enforcer John Scott to the Pacific Division team.
Sunday’s game at Staples Center arena in Los Angeles doesn’t have the strife from a year ago because the NHL established the so called “John Scott Rule.”
Last year, fans could nominate any player in the league. But this year, the NHL changed that by not allowing players on the ballot who had been demoted to their minor league teams unless it was for short term conditioning purposes.
Scott, who is known more for pounding on the heads of his opponents than putting pucks in the net, was chosen captain of the Pacific team despite scoring just four goals in parts of six seasons heading into his first all-star appearance. The league tried but failed to exclude him.
This year instead of the focus being on the brute strength of the game’s ice guardians it is on the youth and speed of second year star Connor McDavid — the Pacific Division captain — and rookies Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine, the first two selections in the 2016 draft.
“It’s a huge honor, you want to soak it all in,” said Matthews when named to the team earlier this month.
The legitimate best of the best will be lacing them up for the three-on-three contest between representatives of all four divisions, including league-leading scorer Sidney Crosby, reigning MVP Patrick Kane and last year’s top defenseman Drew Doughty.
The usual slew of last-minute defections are absent, only Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin will miss the game due to an injury.
The biggest controversy this year centers around the absence of John Tortorella.
The Columbus Blue Jackets head coach is skipping the game because his adult son’s pit bull is sick. Tortorella also had to miss coaching in the Blue Jackets’ game against the Nashville Predators on Thursday. He had been picked to coach the Metropolitan Division all-star team.
The game will return to last year’s three-on-three tournament with the format dividing the game into three 20-minute contests.
The rosters are composed of 11 players — six forwards, three defensemen and two goaltenders.
The league is moving away from the traditional five-on-five format in an attempt to create more scoring for the fans.
The winners of each semi-final game will meet in the tournament final to determine the overall champion. The fan-elected captains are McDavid, Crosby, Nashville’s P.K. Subban and Montreal’s Carey Price.
“It’s a little bit more exciting than when I went the first time,” said Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk.
Columbus skater Cam Atkinson was named to replace Malkin.
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