All Star Festivities
All-Star Weekend has come and passed and on Tuesday the league will return to its hard-hitting violent conclusion of the season.
If you went into this weekend with low expectations however (as I do yearly) you might have been surprised to find yourself actually entertained in large parts (as I am yearly).
The weekend still seems more of a televised corporate retreat than anything else but there were enough moments to make it worth your precious weekend afternoon.
Thursday saw the kick-off with the fantasy draft. Not surprisingly, captain Zdeno Chara steered clear of all three Canucks letting Alfredsson pick up some major talent in the first few rounds knowing his trio of countrymen would still be available in the later rounds.
We also got this exchange:
Spezza: “I wonder if him and his brother will have any chemistry in the game?”
Karlsson: “Doubtful.”
“Doubtful.”
“Aliens.”
“They don’t even have to talk and they know how to pass the puck to each other, eh?”
“They have a secret language inside their heads.”
“It’s unfair.”
It wasn’t a perfect split however as Cody Hodgsonfound himself on Chara’s team thanks to a coin toss that went horribly, horribly wrong. Hodgson is currently back in Vancouver and being detoxed as we speak.
Recap Of The 2012 All Star Game - Canucks Edition
Saturday was skills competition day. Daniel Sedin headed into the afternoon as the defending champion in the Accuracy Competition but ceded his title to Victoria native Jamie Benn.
The kid shocked everyone except CBC announcer Ron McLean who mentioned practicing shots with Benn at “Social in Victoria.”
Wait, isn’t Social a club downtown?
How can you practice shots at a — ooooh.
The Sedins also competed in the Challenge Relay in separate heats, each taking on the saucer pass challenge into the tiny nets. Despite some early troubles, Henrik nailed the event while Daniel aced them all. It was an impressive display in a mini-event seemingly designed for their talents.
They probably just visualized the nets as their brother.
In the Elimination Shootout Daniel Sedin was eliminated early while Henrik didn’t compete because, well, of this.
Sunday night was the All-Star game itself and the Sedins were all over the night, starting with Henrik flashing a Rick Rypien mindcheck.ca shirt pre-game.
The twins started the game with Scott Hartnell, who wisely said pre-game he was going to the net with his stick down. Hartnell, who was mic’ed for the game, admitted to throwing a few passes in their skates early but eventually settled down and the produced a fantastic goal.
Even better was the post-goal comments from Hartnell, essentially “The Sedin Triplets!
Chemistry!
Suck that Phaneuf!”
Alex Edler meanwhile found some time to play with Shea Weber in what must surely be a preview of the 2012-2013 season, right?
RIGHT?
After the first, Hartnell was replaced on the Sedin line by the man of the weekend, Daniel Alfredsson.
The line had been highly anticipated in both Ottawa and Vancouver (and some place called Sweden) and delivered early as Alfredsson scored a beautiful Kesler-esque goal for his first of the night.
Amazingly, the Sedins didn’t register a point on that one, quite possibly the only time they’ve been on the ice for a goal and didn’t get at least an assist between the two.
Alfie’s second goal of the night was a magnificent display of what the Sedins can be with a comparable player on their line (sorry Alex).
Just stunning.
Though they would try and try to get Alfie his hat trick, the Sedins (and Edler) were unsuccessful. They did however combine on their own to beat Tim Thomas in the third complete with a Henrik crease crash.
Henrik’s tender half-hug to Thomas was the highlight of the game for the Vancouver faithful. We saw how seriously Thomas took the game when he wouldn’t let Alfie have his hat trick at the end, so you know this one hurt.
And of course, let’s not forget Drake hanging with some Swedish twins.