Zak MacMillan

"CBJ"

Harrisburg, PA • United States • 23 Years Old • Male

CBJ- New All Star Format and Thoughts

On Wednesday, the NHL announced a new realignment of the NHL All-Star Game for the upcoming game in Nashville, Tennessee.

Here is the new format...(via NHL press release)

*The 2016 Honda NHL® All-Star Game will be a three-game tournament played in a 3-on-3 format with a prize pool of $1 million to be paid in its entirety to the tournament’s winning team.

*The tournament will feature four teams, one team representing each NHL Division: the Pacific, Central, Metropolitan and Atlantic.

*Each team will be made up of 11 players from each Division: six forwards, three defensemen and two goaltenders.

·*The 2016 NHL All-Star Fan Vote will allow fans to vote for one All-Star player from each Division, without regard to position. The top vote-getter from each Division will be named NHL All-Stars, as well as Captain of his respective team.

*The remaining 40 NHL All-Stars will be named by the NHL Hockey Operations Department for a total of 44 All-Star players, with at least one player selected from each NHL team.

*The 2016 Honda All-Star Skills Competition™ returns to a matchup between the Eastern Conference and Western Conference All-Stars on Saturday evening, with the winning conference earning the right to select when their semi-final matchup will be played; first or second on Sunday.

*Each game in the three-game, 3-on-3 2016 Honda NHL All-Star Tournament will be 20 minutes in length.

*Teams will change ends at the 10-minute mark of each game. Games that are tied after 20 minutes will be decided by a shootout.

*The Central Division All-Stars will face the Pacific Division All-Stars and the Atlantic Division All-Stars will face the Metropolitan Division All-Stars in the two Semi-Final games.

*The winners of each Semi-Final game will play each other in the All-Star Tournament Final to determine the overall tournament champion.

*The four division-leading NHL coaches (best points percentage following the completion of games on Jan. 9, 2016) will be named coaches for each of the four All-Star teams.
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Here are my thoughts on these changes.

I liked the old game a lot. Seeing high scoring games were very fun and entertaining to watch, even though there is barely any defensive play in the game. Last year's in Columbus was great, especially the number of times the cannon went off in Nationwide Arena. It was quite the spectical, and one Jackets fans may not see for again for a couple of decades.

The new changes look very flavorful for the league. There is a lot of things involved in these changes in contrast to the old game. The fantasy draft is gone, and I thought that wasn't bad TV. But now, these teams of 6 forwards, 3 defensemen, and 2 goalies will be leaving out quality players in all positions. It may also hurt the hometown team as they may see less hometown players as a result of statistics instead of the fan vote, and the fantasy draft.

Here are my predictions of potential coaches and players representing their divisions.

Western Conference All-Stars

Central Division

Forwards:
C Tyler Seguin (DAL)
RW Vladimir Tarasenko (STL)
RW Patrick Kane (CHI)
C Nathan MacKinnon (COL)
LW Jamie Benn (DAL)
C Jonathan Toews (CHI)

Defense:
D Ryan Suter (MIN)
D Shea Weber (NSH)
D Dustin Byfuglien (WPG)

Goalies
G Pekka Rinne (NSH)
G Jake Allen (STL)

Coach: Lindy Ruff (DAL)

Pacific Division

Forwards:
C Anze Kopatar (LA)
C Ryan Getzlaf (ANA)
RW Corey Perry (ANA)
LW Max Domi (ARI)
LWJohnny Gaudreau (CGY)
LW Taylor Hall (EDM)

Defense:
D Drew Doughty (LA)
D Brent Burns (SJ)
D Oliver Ekman-Larsson (ARI)

Goalies:
G Jonathan Quick (LA)
G Ryan Miller (VAN)

Coach: Bruce Broudreau (ANA)

Eastern Confernce

Atlantic Division

Forwards
C Jack Eichel (BUF)
C David Krejic (BOS)
C Steven Stamkos (TBL)
RW Jaromir Jagr (FLA)
LW Max Pacioretty (MTL)
C Dylan Larkin (DET)

Defense
D Morgan Reilly (TOR)
D Erik Karlsson (OTT)
D Zdeno Chara (BOS)

Goalies
G Carey Price (MTL)
G Roberto Luongo (FLA)

Coach: Michel Thereien (MTL)

Metropolitan Division

Forwards:
C John Tavares (NYI)
C Sidney Crosby (PIT)
C Claude Giroux (PHI)
LW Alex Ovechkin (WSH)
RW Brandon Saad (CBJ)
LW Mats Zuccarello (NYR)

Defense:
D John Carlson (WSH)
D Justin Faulk (CAR)
D Ryan McDonagh (NYR)

Goalies
G Henrik Lundqvist (NYR)
G Corey Schinder (NJD)

Coach: Alain Vinegault (NYR)

More to come...