Skills Competition to be Appreciated

For as boring and relatively meaningless as the all-star game has become with the advent of mass media the tone of the weekend is still something special and the skills competition is very unique and intriguing. This is where hockey fans and really sports fans in general get to see some of the world’s greatest athletes show off said greatness. It is a showcase of skill and excitement seen in moments over the course of the season all lumped into one spectacular event. The excitement and drama of a breakaway to the precision of the target shooting contest that can leave one saying “how did he do that!?” There is the brute power of the hardest shot competition and the sheer grace of the fastest skate portion which allows men to fly, even if only technically a few inches from the surface. Position players tend to get the most attention but in these moments we also see that goaltending requires just as much athleticism and an entirely different arsenal of skills. It is fun, breath-taking, magnificent, and any other word you can use to describe what amazing things mere mortal men can accomplish. All of that on top of the fact that the weekend will be hosted by the city home to one of the greatest franchises in all of North American sport and the world for that matter. So as much as the all-star game has been diminished in time there is still much to gain from this experience, and I encourage everyone to sit back, relax, and take in every truly incredible moment as they unfold right before your eyes.