{"id":428713,"date":"2026-01-21T23:19:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T23:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/428713\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T23:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T23:19:09","slug":"if-the-nhl-wants-to-innovate-it-can-start-with-scrapping-its-all-star-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/428713\/","title":{"rendered":"If the NHL wants to innovate, it can start with scrapping its all-star game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Nathan MacKinnon, right, of the Colorado Avalanche and Connor McDavid, left, of the Edmonton Oilers take part in the 2024 NHL All-Star Game. For years, these games have had little competitive feel, with players going through the motions at a fraction of what they’re capable of.John E. Sokolowski\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Before they agreed to return to the Olympics<\/a>, the NHL<\/a> planned to hold an all-star game in New York in a few weeks.<\/p>\n

After they cancelled it, the governor of that state bullied them into holding some sort of event. It was to be some sort of \u2018Olympic send-off\u2019. It must have occurred to them later that a decent portion of their workforce \u2013 the Russian bit \u2013 was banned from being sent off. So they cancelled that, too.<\/p>\n

Now they\u2019ll have a do-over in New York next year. Which is a shame, since they were so close to getting this right. <\/p>\n

There are a lot of wonderfully stupid things in sport, so I don\u2019t like to pick favourites, but the current all-star format must feature near the top. <\/p>\n

All-star games are neither \u2018all-star\u2019 nor \u2018games\u2019. They are exhibitions featuring talented players going at 30 per cent of their capacity. They lack all the things \u2013 intensity, hostility, violence \u2013 that make hockey watchable. <\/p>\n

Cathal Kelly: A 2038 Olympic bid could kick start a national rejuvenation project<\/a><\/p>\n

Think of the first timers who tune into an all-star game under the impression that this showcase of greatness will give them some idea of what hockey\u2019s all about. Then they get to see some guy humping up the ice while the opposing defence scatters for fear of accidentally tripping him. <\/p>\n

As awful as it is to watch, the participants evidently hate it even more. It\u2019s all the smiling that clues you in. <\/p>\n

All of these complaints are evergreen. There is no such thing as an all-star fan. Except hockey is now in a gilded position to move on. <\/p>\n

I was thinking this as I watched Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s speech at Davos<\/a> on Tuesday. Carney spoke of a shifting world order now openly defined by \u201cgreat power rivalry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

The 4 Nations Face-Off was full of tension, emotion and competitive high level hockey; something that all-star games have been unable to muster for years.Minas Panagiotakis\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Sports isn\u2019t an important part of this, but it is, like all things, some sort of part. This is the NHL\u2019s opportunity.<\/p>\n

An all-star game, and the current pro sports model generally, is post-national \u2013 all these players from all over the world getting together to highlight their individual talent. Their point of origin is a bit of trivia. Their team allegiance is more important to the bigger story. <\/p>\n

Sports in the great power era will be re-nationalized. You don\u2019t do it for yourself, or even your team. Your ultimate loyalty is to the state. As Carney points out, Canada cannot continue to pretend we are resisting this turn toward jingoism. <\/p>\n

As was once the case, the great players of the future will be recognized primarily for their accomplishments in the national colours. <\/p>\n

The NHL is better placed than any league to take advantage of that shift. <\/p>\n

Cathal Kelly: Canada’s red-and-white tide of patriotic fervour ready to rise in 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

They are already headed in that direction. Under a current, vague proposal, even-numbered years will be put aside for international competition. In 2026, \u201930, \u201934 and so on, that will be the Olympics. In 2028, \u201932, 36 etc., it will be some sort of evolution of the 4 Nations Face-Off. Odd-numbered years are all-star years. <\/p>\n

First order of business \u2013 give the NHL\u2019s tournament a new name. Every time I write out \u2018Face-Off\u2019, I think of Nicolas Cage frothing. <\/p>\n

Second thing, find more than four nations. Create a tournament that features all of the countries who can put together a 23-man roster of North American-based players. The North American part matters because this is an NHL event. Nobody wants the KHL skulking around the edges. <\/p>\n

Every two years is a decent rhythm. Long enough in between to build anticipation, but not so infrequent that people wander off to do other things. This is how international soccer times it with the World Cup and continental tournaments, and nobody does it better than they do. <\/p>\n

Then \u2013 and this is the part that will take a tiniest smidge of vision \u2013 you torpedo the all-star game. <\/p>\n

Cathal Kelly: To play hockey for Canada in these Olympics is profane work with a sacred purpose<\/a><\/p>\n

The NHL is in a position to attach its brand to something big and international. Right at the top, it features two super powers, and a selection of middle powers pulled between them. Think of recapturing the feeling of the Canada Cup in its mid-eighties prime. That\u2019s what this can be. <\/p>\n

You can still name an all-star team every two years. People like debating that. You can bring the people who make it to one spot and let them sun themselves in attention. You can sell tickets for people to watch them horsing around in a skills competition. <\/p>\n

But you cannot have the people you want trying to kill each other every even-numbered year, half-assing their way up and down the ice every odd-numbered one. The latter critically diminishes the former. <\/p>\n

Nobody wants to watch them play anyway. They just want to be in their presence. The NHL would get more online pick-up if they had the all-stars sitting on stools at centre-ice playing full-contact musical chairs.<\/p>\n

Cathal Kelly: Canada takes the 4 Nations Face-Off by force<\/a><\/p>\n

If the NHL killed the all-star game portion of all-star weekend, every other league would do the same thing. It just requires the courage to be first. Nothing terrifies pro sports executives more than innovation, which is why they\u2019re always saying the word.<\/p>\n

The way to think of it is more with less. There isn\u2019t even a financial penalty attached. You can think of something that people will pay a few hundred bucks to attend, and that your media partners will pay to broadcast. These days, Amazon is more likely to pay for a show called Commuting with Connor than they are to pick up a Thursday night game. It\u2019s just two hours of Connor McDavid driving back and forth to work. Maybe he takes a phone call. <\/p>\n

The goal now should be serving hockey\u2019s international potential \u2013 the stuff from which it was born. <\/p>\n

If the NHL can\u2019t see the sense in that, they deserve to be stuck in fourth spot, and falling. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Nathan MacKinnon, right, of the Colorado Avalanche and Connor McDavid, left, of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,21363,85,22600],"class_list":["post-428713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-noastack","tag-sports","tag-topstory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}