The Old Men of the West Outshine the Young Bucks from the East
If you had told me yesterday afternoon that twenty one goals were going to be put up in Wednesdays NHL All Star Game, I would have ventured a guess that Sid the Kid and Alex Ovechkin would have combined for at least four or five of those goals. I would have been wrong. The two youngsters combined for only one point, an Ovechkin goal around midway through the second period, Crosby was held pointless.
The veterans proved to be more impressive in first NHL All Star game in three years. Joe Sakic, the captain of the West had four assists, and there were a total of five players with multiple goals: Yanic Perreault, Rick Nash, Brian Rolsten and Martin Havlat from the West And Zdeno Chara from the east each netted two goals.
But the real story in this installment of the NHL All Star game was the goaltending… just kidding - the Buffalo Sabres Daniel Briere. The eight year veteran who almost didn’t have a job after clearing waivers a few years ago, has found a new spark in Buffalo this year scoring 18 goals with 57 points at the halfway point of the year.
Briere continued his early season success in the All-Star game with one goal and four assists, landing himself the Most Valuable Player while playing amongst the NHL’s best and brightest.
It’s not as if the NHL All-Star game holds any true bearing on the outcome of the season, but this year like almost every other was certainly entertaining. Twenty-one exciting goals split 12-9 in favor of the Westen Conference, but it isn’t really about who wins or loses, it’s about showcasing the tremendous talent today in professional hockey, and the ‘07 version certainly didn’t disappoint.
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