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Yes, the fantasy draft format of the past few all star games has been fun. After all, it gave us this:
To be honest, the draft has been more fun than the game. The skills competition is also more fun than the game. Everyone knows that the game is completely meaningless, an exhibition of a bunch of hockey's best players not trying and having fun. For some that's the appeal; for some it renders it meaningless.
The league is basically recognizing that the all star game isn't to be taken seriously and is letting players have some fun with it (do you hear that, MLB?). They've scrapped the traditional game format, and are going to three 20-minute games of 3-on-3 hockey, division against division.
“There’s going to be a 3-on-3 mini-game format for the All-Star Game. The National Hockey League Players Association recently signed off on that format, and the expectation is that the League will be making some sort of formal announcement about it tomorrow.
"What we believe to be the case is that the fantasy draft will be dead. Instead, there will be four divisional teams – nine or 10 skaters apiece, a couple of goaltenders. The two teams in the Eastern Conference would play a 20-minute mini-game. The two teams in the Western Conference would play a 20-minute mini-game. And then you would have the two winners play a 20-minute mini-game.”
This will be a goal-a-polooza. Perhaps if the league wants to increase scoring, maybe they need to forget the bigger nets and just only play three on three.
In all seriousness, this should be fun, and it should be exciting to see the Central Division's best forwards like Tyler Seguin and Vladimir Tarasenko out there with a ton of open ice.