/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45526288/462039442.0.jpg)
I love pretty much everything about All-Star Weekend. Except the All-Star Game.
ALL-STAR NEWS:
- The All-Star
Sorting HatFantasy Draft was last night, and it saw Vladimir Tarasenko picked by Team Toews, while Kevin Shattenkirk and Brian Elliott were selected by Team Foligno. All that, and Drunk Alex Ovechkin didn't win a car. It was pretty fun. [SLGT] - Filip Forsberg was the last pick, and thus won a car. But also, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was the 2nd to last pick, and also won a car, which kind of defeats the point, doesn't it? [On the Forecheck]
- As if all that weren't enough, Phil Kessel was traded for Tyler Seguin. Again. [Puck Daddy]
- Tonight is the Skills Competition, which we all know is the best part about the All-Star Weekend. Now here's a question: would you rather see Tank in the Sharshooter or the Breakaway challenge? [NHL.com]
- During the Skill Competition and possibly during the All-Star Game proper, players will have GoPro cameras on their helmets. Awesome! [The Verge]
- Although we haven't gotten it yet, it's expected that the official announcement of the 2016 World Cup of Hockey will be made this weekend. By now you've probably heard about the profoundly stupid and borderline xenophobic plans to have a "Rest of Europe" and a "North American U-23" teams competing in the tournament. But how do the All-Stars who might play for those squads feel about them? [Puck Daddy]
- But enough about that - who will carry the #USABestHockey torch at the WCoH? I mean, if the 2016 World Cup of Hockey started today. Which would be silly of course, because then it'd be the 2015 World Cup of Hockey. [The Hockey News]
NEWS ABOUT NOT-HOCKEY:
- Cubs legend Ernie Banks passed away last night at 83. [Big League Stew]
- Ever heard of Geauga Lake? It's a body of water in Ohio, about 45 minutes outside of Cleveland. It also used to be the home of the largest theme park on Earth - ten times the size of Disneyland. Today it's a small local water park with acres of ruins surrounding it. How did it happen, and why? [Theme Park Tourist]
- While building the Stan Musial bridge, archaeologists found remains of a huge, dominating metropolis historians had never known existed. And no, smart asses, they're not talking about downtown St. Louis. [Belleville News-Democrat]
- SkyMall, the catalog on airplanes, recently filed for bankruptcy. Reminisce about all of the fantastically useless items you always read about while waiting impatiently for your ears to pop. [mental_floss]
VIDEOS:
Who will win the Al MacInnis Award for Hardest Shot Besides Al MacInnis? Al probably could if he wanted - and he'd do it with a wooden stick, too.
Seriously, Al MacInnis is a fucking badass.
I'll posting some more All-Star links tomorrow - vote for which links you'd like to see! Otherwise, Latvia will get to decide which links I post.
- jasonmcadams1120 AT gmail DOT com
- @JMill1120