There’s going to be a change in the NHL All-Star Game. It’s now going to be 3-on-3 hockey.
The National Hockey League is changing up the way that the NHL All-Star Game is played, to make it more appeasing to the fans and create a more fun and competitive atmosphere among the league’s best stars.
After the National Hockey League went to a 3-0n-3 overtime system this year, the NHL All-Star Game will be following suit this year, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie
"There will be four teams of nine skaters and two goalies, one team for each of the four divisions (Atlantic and Metropolitan in the East; Central and Pacific in the West). There will be a 20-minute mini-game – likely two 10-minute halves – featuring one division versus another in 3-on-3 action followed by another 20-minute game with the other two divisions playing each other.The two winning teams would then meet in a third 20-minute session for the so-called “championship” game. The all-star Fantasy Draft, a show the players didn’t particularly like but was needed and, at times, was an entertaining way to choose up sides, is no longer required with the players playing for their divisional teams.It’s still 60 minutes of game action, regular intermissions and all the trappings of a traditional game. The key change, of course, is going to 3-on-3."
What’s been great about the new overtime format in hockey this season is that it’s quick and exhilarating, which is something that league was aiming for, instead of a regular overtime that still led to many shootouts. With the new 3-on-3 format, it allows the best players of each to get open space on the ice and show why they’re the best in the league at what they do.
Adapting the format to the NHL All-Star Game, along with the additional games of divisions playing divisions adds even more intrigue to the game. What happens when teams that are sworn enemies, are suddenly faced with the tasked of being teammates?
Not to mention that there will be $1 million on the line in the championship game.
Suddenly there’s an incentive for the players to go out and give it their all to win some additional cash. Not only will people being seeing their favorite stars in a competitive atmosphere, everyone will know at the end of the day, which division in the NHL stands supreme.