The All-Star Skills competition had plenty of fun things - Jacob Vorachek steering Johnny Gaudreau around in the breakaway competition, Brian Elliot taking a selfie while in net, players breaking out the Flying V. But what's most important is that "lazy" and "unfit" Phil Kessel is still an incredibly fast skater, and beat Seguin by a nose.
There's still four more days until we can watch Kessel zoom around the ice in a game that actually matters. Until then, we'll have to settle for these All-Star shenanigans. At least Phil seems happy.
Now for the links:
NHL.com - Team Foligno sweeps Fastest Skater competition - 2015 NHL All-Star Weekend
Finally Kessel's on a winning team. Look at him go!
Johnny Gaudreau is what All-Star Weekend is about | NHL | Sporting News
Maybe the Leafs should light their sticks on fire during their next game. It couldn't hurt...
World Cup of Hockey 2016 officially announced, to be held in Toronto - SBNation.com
This is going to be really interesting. I'm not quite sure what to make of the format--it seems almost unnecessarily complicated--and it's hard to gauge how excited the players and the fans will be for this tournament. It obviously won't draw as much buzz as the Olympics, but will it still be a big deal? Or is this a tournament for die-hard fans only? On the other hand, the "European All-Stars" team seems like it will give more opportunities for excellent players from countries with weak teams. And because it'll be held in Toronto, it could be a great chance to grow the game in North America--no weird TV broadcast hours, and a greater opportunity for fans to attend games. There's a lot of questions raised by this, including the big one: Is the NHL done with sending its players to the Olympics? Right now, though, most of these questions will have to stay unanswered. I, for one, will be watching the World Cup closely.
Report: Maple Leafs to host 'outdoor' game, All-Star festivities in 2017 | theScore
2017 is the Maple Leafs' centennial, so it's only fitting that they play host to many festivities. Hopefully by that time the team itself will be able to win more than they lose.