Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Slam Dunk-Style Shootout @ All-Star Skills Competition?

If I just heard correctly, Tsn's insider panel of Duthie, Milbury, Dreger and McKenzie said that this year's breakaway shootout competition will be signifcantly different this year, as a panel of judges will rate each players moves on a creativity level of 1-10.

Now, before I create an unnecessary buzz, I will NOT confirm it, as I may have misunderstood. Maybe they're just pushing for that idea...I'm not sure. All I know is, I would be a HUGE fan of it. The skills competition has lost it's "oumpf" over recent years...At the bar where I watched it last year (shout out to Bellerose!), we were pretty indifferent to the whole pre-game activities, which consisted of the Skills Competition and the unbelieveably boring Young Guns game, which DESPERATELY needs re-tuning because it was an absolute drag to watch.

I can definitely see Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, Datsyuk and Zetterberg dazzling the crowd with trickery in the shootout, and I would LOVE to see it even more in the Young Guns game...maybe they can have a make-shift shootout after their game? Sam Gagner would definitely turn heads...

What do you think about the All-Star game shootout being judged by a panel? Let me know in the comments section below!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I also heard james duthie talk or write about a slamdunk shootout, so it may be just what the guys at tsn were HOPING for. It would be pretty cool to watch but the players and goalies might not like it with the fear of looking bad. Some players don't even want to do the fastest skater competition because they don't want to look bad. But really who cares, as long as the fans like it. Only problem is that there are only so much moves a hockey player can do on a breakaway compared to the many different things they do in basketball. Unless they start bringing in props or other players...

Max Power said...

Agreed with everything you said Kev, good input...

Imagine having Gino Odjick lob a pass to Ovechkin as he slams a home-run passed Brodeur? Talk about a sweet feed by a less than gorgeous prop...I want Odjick back with the Habs, I'm really not kidding.

I must say though that with great trick attempts will come horrible misses (probably much more often than goals), so who cares? I for one would not look at Crosby or Datsyuk any less for trying something wicked yet failing to even come close to doing ANYTHING at all with the puck...just try it!

For the skater comp., I figured they were afraid they would look bad, but I always thought too that they were afraid to round the net, take a spill and get hurt bad enough to miss the game, and maybe some of their games with their clubs once the weekend comes to an end...It definitely could happen, I actually always expect it to.

Anonymous said...

i think a slam dunk style shoutout would be a nice change and i`ll always be ready to see a new move! so I couldn`t agree more with u sal!

Jamesyboy

Anonymous said...

If Odjick came back i would buy tickets to the next penguins game not to see Malkin or Crosby, but to see good ol`Odjick. I say teach that old dog some new tricks.

As for the new shoot-out format for the All-Star game, i am excited to see what crazy things players will come up with. Fans will be glued to the T.V. everytime a superstar picks up that puck ay center.

jerrytuts