Inside the Flyers: No way to defend what NHL All-Star Game has become

The NHL held its all-star weekend last week in Columbus, a glorified two-day infomercial to promote its sport.

Sadly, what was supposed to be the main event turned into a farce.

Team Toews 17, Team Foligno 12.

Oh, the fans in Columbus didn't seem to mind, but for the majority of us watching on TV, the so-called All-Star Game had less intensity, less magic, than any pond-hockey matchup in your neighborhood.

Much less.

Back in the day, the players took pride in the game, pride in showing that their conference was tops. Heck, Gordie Howe once got into a fight in an All-Star Game.

Now the players barely touch one another, let alone fight. No one is saying the game should have fights, or that players should risk injuries with jarring checks.

But it is an insult to the viewers to have the defensemen smile and say "ole" as they allow skaters to go past them, an insult to watch most players not even attempt to block a shot.

An insult to not even pretend to play defense.

"It is what it is," Winnipeg's 6-foot-5, 260-pound defenseman Dustin Byfuglien said Thursday before the Jets played the Flyers.

Hmmm. The NHL has its players so brainwashed that even a player like Byfuglien - who makes a great living partly because of the way he throws his massive frame into opponents - doesn't seem to mind seeing the All-Star Game turned into an embarrassment.

The late, great Fred Shero received gobs of criticism from the league's front office when he coached the brawling Flyers to two Stanley Cups in the 1970s.

Shero was unremorseful.

"If it's fancy skating they want, tell them to go to the Ice Capades," he once famously said.

That, apparently, is what the NHL wants from its All-Star Game. Fancy skating and goals. Heck, put Tara Lapinski out there and she, too, probably could have scored against poor, defenseless Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who allowed seven goals on 16 second-period shots.

"That period," Fleury said, "felt like forever."

The NFL playoffs took a break on the Sunday that the NHL held its All-Star Game, so it was a chance for the league to showcase its players and its product.

Instead, the NHL gave us a game that set an all-star record with 29 combined goals. Twenty-five players had at least two points. Eight players had at least four points.

Asked if he watched the matchup, Flyers general manager Ron Hextall was blunt.

"No. Thank God."

It's time for the NHL to try something different. Some folks think the league should bring back a game between the defending Stanley Cup champions and the league's all-stars. This year, it would have matched the Los Angeles Kings and the all-stars.

That has some merit, but it probably would have infuriated the Kings, many of whom had island vacations planned during the all-star break. And besides, there are too many teams that need to be represented, and that wouldn't be possible if there was just one all-star squad.

Here's a better idea: Put all-stars on one team and rookie all-stars on the other.

The rookies would be hungry to show they can compete with the veterans. The veterans, at least theoretically, wouldn't want to get shown up by the youngsters.

This year's rookie team would have featured Winnipeg goalie Michael Hutchinson, forwards Johnny Gaudreau (Gloucester Catholic) of Calgary, Filip Forsberg of Nashville, and Jonathan Drouin of Tampa Bay, and defenseman Aaron Ekblad of Florida.

Hey, it wouldn't be perfect, but at least it wouldn't be such a bore that, like this year's game, had viewers clicking to On Demand to find something entertaining.

Or, as in Hextall's case, deciding it wasn't worth watching in the first place.