The NHL All-Star game is great because it doesn’t matter.
COLUMBUS — The National Hockey League All-Star Game doesn’t mean anything and that’s what makes it great.
There was no hitting, almost no defense and everyone was skating about 80 percent speed during Sunday’s game in Nationwide Arena. Team Toews defeated Team Foligno 17-12 in the highest-scoring NHL All-Star Game ever. It was only right that Team Toews won, because Team Foligno’s jerseys looked like a Monster Energy can.
The goals don’t really matter and neither did the game, played by teams that were arranged in a fantasy draft. Unlike Major League Baseball, the NHL’s midseason exhibition lacks any stakes, such as a home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup finals.
I had never been to an NHL game before Sunday — if that even counts as a real NHL game.
I didn’t recognize half the players during introductions, but I probably wasn’t alone. It was the first All-Star Game since 2012 after the NHL lockout in 2013 and the Winter Olympics last year. I don’t think I had ever watched one on TV, let alone in person, but it was entertaining.
When I got to the arena about two hours before the puck dropped, I picked up my credential and looked at the media-seating chart. My name was almost last on the list that featured writers from just about every national outlet in the United States.
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There were international outlets, too. I was seated next to a writer who was typing in Russian.
Then there was me, sitting alone editing stories for Monday’s copy of The Post, which is something I do every week. Except my view of the ice behind my computer screen on Sunday was a little bit more enjoyable than a windowless newsroom.
During the pre-game meal for the media, reporters were rubbing elbows and telling jokes about Saturday night’s Skills Challenge. I watched it with my roommates in my apartment, but we’re not close enough to talk about it so I just ate my fried chicken.
I paid closer attention to Fall Out Boy’s concert during the first intermission than most of the second period.
I jumped out of my seat a couple times when the cannon went off inside the arena after players scored for Team Foligno.
I saw some of the best hockey players in the world play on the same ice and will remember everything about the game, except the game itself.
Chad Lindskog is a senior studying journalism and The Post’s sports editor. Let him know your thoughts about the NHL All-Star game @chadlindskog or cl027410@ohio.edu.
