Blues Hold Their Own At The NHL All-Star Game
By Kate Cimini
Well, NHL fans, you wanted a show, and you got one. Even my sense of the dramatic wore out halfway through the player announcements and I love a good dramatic moment.
And the St. Louis Blues we know and love were a family divided.
Tarasenko was facing off against his Blues compatriots from Team Toews’ side of the ice, while Shattenkirk and Elliott probably plotted against their erstwhile teammate. Teams were decided at the NHL All-Star Draft Friday night. If you need a quick reminder, here are the lineups from that night.
The game started off slow as an in-season game would never dare to be, and continued as such. Slow skating, not scoring-wise. At 16:51 Radim Vrbata netted the first goal of the night for Team Foligno and most likely earned a couple of rounds from his teammates.
Getzlaf was the next to score for Team Toews in the sixth minute of the game, and rather than seeing the usual tense faces and quick recalibrating, Team Foligno shook it off quickly, grinning, and got right back to work.
Our Blues might not rocked the All-Star Game’s world, but they certainly held their own.
While the NHL All-Star Game might not be the most exciting, or even have a real incentive to win, this is one of the reasons why I treasure these games: they’re simply fun. There are no standings or jobs resting on these games, and since everyone’s trying desperately to avoid injury, they’re none too quick to deliver a hit of any kind but instead keep the passing fast and loose. While I might not be flush enough in the pocket to pay $200 for a single game, that’s the real reason the NHL treasures these games: they’re a huge payout for the host city.
Helene Elliott does a good job of covering why these games are so fruitful – the hotel reservations, the restaurant meals, and, of course, the flights, parking, and all the other little details that come with a trip. The broadcast companies make a killing, too. They go to a commercial break every five minutes, have three days to milk this for all it’s worth, and of course drag in more casual fans than your average game would simply because of name-brand recognition. It’s a win for almost everyone.
Goals came down like a waterfall. Jakub Voracek took the next point for Team Toews, off an assist from the captain himself. Then, Johanson. Then, Bergeron. And we still had more than seven minutes left in the first.
By far, the most exciting moment of the first came with five minutes left, on Kevin Shattenkirk’s goal to tie the game at 3-3. Shattenkirk came down the ice on the rush, came down into the slot and threw it in the net off an assist from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. We may not care about the score, but it’s nice to see your player get a goal, and even nicer when it’s a defenseman, who all too often are overlooked in favor of the sexier offensive positions.
Then, we were back to waterfall of goals until the merciful end of the first so we could instead watch awkward intermission interviews, and far more mascots than I’m comfortable with. And, of course, my favorite band from my college days, Fall Out Boy. I think they actually made a great addition to the musical lineup since Light ‘Em Up was essentially the theme song of the 2012 playoffs But the best part was Marc-Andre Fleury coming out on the ice and skating around the band to get a better view. Or maybe it was Duncan Keith unashamedly videoing them on his iPhone. Or maybe it was Pete Wentz rocking Gerard Way hair from 2005. Whatever it was, it was a fun intermission.
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Shattenkirk of course gave an intermission interview after the weirdest segue ever: “If you’re an NHL All-Star, you get to meet the band. But if you’re Kevin Shattenkirk you play for the Blues.” Um…okay?
Sadly, Shatty told interviewer Jeremy Roenick that he didn’t get to keep the puck, but he didn’t seem too broken up about it. “I think Lu[ongo] took it and chucked it into the stands. He didn’t let me have my moment. It was tough,” he said, chuckling, “but I’ll work to get it back.”
The goaltenders changed for the second period, as each team had three goalies and would use a new one each period. Amost immediately Tarasenko got his first assist of the game on a Suter goal on Marc-Andre Fleury, and about 10 seconds later Patrick Kane got his first goal of the night (which was later attributed to Giroux) and tied the score up. The game continued in a similar fashion as the first, with players scoring left and right, very little defense actually being played, and even the coaches just letting loose and enjoying being on the bench.
Jan 25, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Team Foligno defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (22) of the St. Louis Blues blocks a pass by Team Toews center Filip Forsberg (9) of the Nashville Predators in the third period in the 2015 NHL All Star Game at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports
Seguin, Stamkos, Nash, Forsberg, Tavares, Voracek, Foligno, Forsberg (again), Stamkos (again) and Tavares (again) all scored in the second – it was like a ping-pong game with each goal leading to an opportunity for another. The period ended 11-8 Team Toews, setting a record for NHL All-Star Game goals. This was bad news for Alex Ovechkin, who was trying for the MVP award of the All-Star Game: a Honda Civic. Why on earth he would want a Honda Civic so badly is beyond me, but that apparently was his goal of the weekend.
If you don’t remember Ovechkin’s determination during the draft, read about it on Russian Machine Never Breaks.
Ovechkin did get himself in a little bit of trouble in the end of the second when he helped bear-hug Toews and a couple other white jerseys over Toews protecting his current and regular-season goalie, Corey Crawford. It was more than amusing, and Ovechkin clearly thought so too, laughing as he skated away from the mess of guys.
The third period started after a strong performance by O.A.R. where a number of players came out to take a knee like they were getting a particularly musical lecture from their coach. It was fun, and funny to see. Though a song with the chorus “I got my two hands up, I surrender” might not have been the most topical of the evening, I enjoyed the acccidental irony.
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Unsurprisingly, about a million players scored again, though Brian Elliott was out on goal for Team Foligno (black). Tarasenko got a second assist on a Tyler Seguin wrister (the 91s were at it again) and Elliott only let five goals in.
However that was five goals too many. The final score was 17-12 white (Team Toews). Team Foligno might have drawn a better set of players Corsi-wise, but apparently Team Toews had better chemistry. By the end of the night, only three of Toews’ players had a negative plus/minus while Team Foligno was full of them. And Zemgus Girgensons was neither the best nor the worst player of the night, coming away with no goals or assists but only a -1, whereas Maple Leafs star Phil Kessel came away with a -4 plus/minus, no goals and no assists.
But, hey, it’s just a fun game of shinny, right?
Our Blues might not rocked the All-Star Game’s world, but they certainly held their own. Brian Elliott faced down 15 shots, coming away with a .600 save percentage which, while not amazing, was better than Marc-Andre Fleury’s and smack dab in between his and Carey Price’s.
Shattenkirk, of course, had his goal and played some fun defense, while Tarasenko helped his team march to victory over his fellow Blues.
Here’s to next year’s All-Star Game in Nashville, Tennessee. May it be as fun as this one. Will we see you there?