NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft
FollowThe NHL held it’s first ever All-Star Fantasy draft last night on Versus. While it was entertaining to see some of the players squirm (Jonathan Tarves) as they waited for their name to be called, at times the broadcast was difficult to watch. TSN’s James Duthie did his best to manufacture intrigue and animosity where there was none.
The NHL produced the show to seem as though it was the NHL entry draft complete with players in suits and jackets.
In the end Team Staal ended up with a team full of favors and teammates such as Cam Ward and Jeff Skinner, while Team Lidstrom had the smarter of the two drafts picking players who are familiar with one another. While most of the experts are lauding Lidstrom’s selections, only the end result of the skills competition and Sunday’s game will tell who had the better draft.
While the Fantasy draft was somewhat interesting to watch, I am not sure it achieved the results that Gary Bettman and the NHL were seeking. There was way too many apparent favors called in on both sides to really take this process seriously. It also does little to fix the product that will be put on the ice on Sunday. My guess is that it will still be a boring game that clearly means nothing for either side and focuses on individual performances.