Super Skills

[charlio lemieux]

I watched tonight and I thought that the breakaway thing at the end was good. No highlite reel goals but the premise is promising. I would like to see more participants for each side and the goalie restricted to the blue ice, but I think this is going to be a great showcase for the game. For me it made the night.

I can see it like in the NBA where it, and not the game, becomes the real showcase for the All-Star weekend.

[Matt Cooke]

I watched tonight and I thought that the breakaway thing at the end was good. No highlite reel goals but the premise is promising. I would like to see more participants for each side and the goalie restricted to the blue ice, but I think this is going to be a great showcase for the game. For me it made the night.

I can see it like in the NBA where it, and not the game, becomes the real showcase for the All-Star weekend.


Except when playing the sport of basketball you don't have a defender stopping your ball from going into the rim. This event was stupid because a) you have just two opportunities to pull a deke out of your ass that the judge's will consider a plausible attempt, b) not only pulling off the deke, you then have to beat the goaltender.

They should either get rid of the goaltender and have it a pure deking skill competition or scrap the whole event itself and say .. "f*ck off NBA."

Then again, it is the first year and the kinks aren't sorted out yet, but this event was just weird to say the least. It's not like players take time out of their already hectic schedules to practice up for this competition. It's a talent that most players just can't perform most of the time. One of those one-in-a-million acts they pull off in the spur of the moment in any given game. You can't just go out and put them on a spotlight. Props to Alexander Ovechkin, one of the few who understood the event, even then just two attempts at pulling off a near impossible feat? Highly unlikely.

There was some positive notes.... attaboy Dion!

[Madferret]

- Take the goalies out
- <Up to 3> Re-do's per shot

Ovechkin saved the whole thing cause it was dying...you could tell none of the first skaters knew what the hell was going on. Right idea they just need to tweak it a bit. My suggestions are noted.

[Rusty]

A total bore as far as I am concerned, other then a few Ovechkin weak attempts it would make a great sleeping pill for insomniacs............

[AtLossForWords]

The obstacle course was kind of nice. I liked how it really demonstrated some important hockey skills like the saucer pass and the accurate one timer from the point.

The youngstars game was the higlight of the night though. Kane tore that game up. Too bad Osgood was stinko during the first round. I could only imagine what the West would've done in the youngstars game with Luongo backing them up in net.

The breakway competition was awful. I think the NHL forgot that the point of a good deke is to score a goal. Didn't Datsyuk score? I think that shows that he knows the point of the good deke. Credit to Ryan Getzlaf for trying to make a serious move because he "wanted to score", something that the other guys didn't seem to get.

[charlio lemieux]

Except when playing the sport of basketball you don't have a defender stopping your ball from going into the rim. This event was stupid because a) you have just two opportunities to pull a deke out of your ass that the judge's will consider a plausible attempt, b) not only pulling off the deke, you then have to beat the goaltender.

They should either get rid of the goaltender and have it a pure deking skill competition or scrap the whole event itself and say .. "f*ck off NBA."

Then again, it is the first year and the kinks aren't sorted out yet, but this event was just weird to say the least. It's not like players take time out of their already hectic schedules to practice up for this competition. It's a talent that most players just can't perform most of the time. One of those one-in-a-million acts they pull off in the spur of the moment in any given game. You can't just go out and put them on a spotlight. Props to Alexander Ovechkin, one of the few who understood the event, even then just two attempts at pulling off a near impossible feat? Highly unlikely.

There was some positive notes.... attaboy Dion!
I don't think stupid is the way I would use to describe it, ofcourse to each their own I suppose. I liked it, not necessarily for what was there last night but for what it can become. In the NBA players practice dunks long before they go to the All-Star weekend and I think that in future years the same will be done in the NHL.

There are a few kinks that need to be worked out. Like Ferret said they should be allowed a couple of retries like in the Dunk competition. The goalies should not be allowed to pokecheck or leave the blue ice, but I do think they should be there, or atleast have some obstacle in the net. The degree of difficulty should be the main aspect of any judging and only a goal would result in a 10 with say a max of 8 for an attempt that didn't score, but a shot was put on net. Ovechkin's high flip that he didn't even hit should not have got such high points, but if he had been allowed another 2 attempts he may have pulled it off.

A total bore as far as I am concerned, other then a few Ovechkin weak attempts it would make a great sleeping pill for insomniacs............

Aww Rusty, do you need a hug?