Does anybody actually care about NHL All Star Weekend?

Ahhh All-Star Weekends… across all sports these “games” have all turned from fun, camaraderie building events and great PR for the sport, to the annual mid-season joke. From the Pro Bowl, to MLB All Star Game and now to the NHL All Star Game, it’s just a bunch of D-List celebrities and athletes who are too buttoned up by their PR people to even show an ounce of personality. And the NHL one this past weekend proved no different. Even in Vegas for God’s sake, there was really nothing that was entertaining or worth tuning in for. I didn’t watch once- I literally had to go back and rewatch ALL the highlights this morning to see if there was anything worth watching that I missed (spoiler alert, there really wasn’t).

Aside from the one insane Zegras Breakaway Challenge goal, the whole weekend felt like such a waste. The theatrics are fine, if they serve a purpose. I kind of enjoyed Jack Hughes’s “Magic Trick” of bringing out an empty box and then having a “Little Jack Hughes” emerge and score the goal. But you know what I would’ve enjoyed more? Actually seeing Jack Hughes pull off a nasty dangle and lighting it up, top titty. Now that’s an All Star Game highlight. And shooting fake pucks in the Bellagio fountains? Cool. You know what would’ve been more cool? Freezing the fountain and putting an Outdoor Rink on the Strip and doing the entire weekend under the lights.

Plus, the game as a whole has just gotten so boring. I like the old East vs. West, full game format. This whole thing of having 3 on 3 games between the divisions is so stupid. The Skills competitions like the accuracy shooting, hardest slapshot and fastest skater are always cool, but the NHL doesn’t really do that great a job of actually making it entertaining. It just looks like a Pee-Wee hockey skills trial.

Also, where’s the CELEBRITY HOCKEY GAME?!?! That would be the single most attention getter of the entire weekend. So many celebrities sneaky play hockey. I know everyone would tune in to watch Bieber dangle around Uncle Joey from Full House, and this game in Las Vegas would’ve certainly been the time to do it. But, the NHL fumbled the bag, and instead we got stuck with Terry Fator (no offense if you’re a fan of Fator’s ventriloquism, I just didn’t think a hockey All Star Weekend is really the best venue for him to shine). Also, what’s with the absolutely atrocious musical acts? Seriously? In Las Vegas, the NHL couldn’t get anyone better than Machine Gun Kelly?