I understand that players are not going to go out in an exhibition game with the same intensity as a game against a division rival, but this was pathetic.

Every player seemed to be coasting around, barely making any effort at all. When in defence that is understandable, but even on offence everybody looked lax.

But still, there were so many 2-on-1s, 3-on-1s and even the occasional 4-on-1 that it was like we were watching the end of team practice.

How can watching this crap be good for the game of hockey? Guys moving at half-speed, zero contact and everybody trying to show off by making two passes too many.

It’s time for this game to mean something, but that’s impossible to do unless you go to the MLB’s format of deciding home-field advantage for the final via the all-star result. That won’t work because of the current fantasy draft format, something that is currently the most interesting thing that NHL all-star weekend has going for it.

And as for Sunday’s other all-star game — the NFL’s Pro Bowl — don’t even get me started on that. At least the players involved get a free week’s worth of vacation in Hawaii as a reward. I’m sure anybody in the world would rather be in Honolulu than Ottawa.

There’s maybe one all-star that is ever worth watching and that’s the MLB’s mid-summer classic — and even that’s not very good. The NBA’s version is dreadful thanks to a complete willingness by everyone involved to play zero defence. As the NFL’s Pro Bowl — also going on Sunday — don’t even get me started.

But Alex Ovechkin did something completely admirable this year by voluntarily sitting it out. It’s not very often you see a player give up the chance to soak in his stardom for an entire weekend.

You see, Ovie is currently suspended for a launching himself into a hit on Penguins defenceman Zbynek Michalek and is banned for three games. That period of time happens to run over the all-star break. So his logic is that he shouldn’t even be eligible to play, even though he is.

So now some other lucky player will get the chance to strut his stuff in this showcase. I don’t know even who, but congrats to them. And really, with the Great Eight currently ranking only tied fir 36th in the league with 39 points, did he even deserve to go? But that’s a question for someone else to answer.

Now, here’s the main thing: If Ovechkin had been voted to play in the game by the fans, then I’d have a problem with him skipping it for a weekend off.

Then, he would be depriving the fans of a player they really wanted to see in this spectacle; a guy that always puts on a great show in the game and especially in the Skills Competition.

It’s a good thing that those fans in Ottawa stuffed the ballot boxes to see four of their own start the game, eh?

PS. Speaking about him taking a weekend off, wouldn’t it be something if that’s all that he really wanted? Or how about if this was his way of protesting his suspension? Telling the league how he really felt about his three-game ban by sitting out their money-making exhibition is not something I’d put past him.

For the third year in a row, Team Canada has failed to take home the gold at the world juniors tournament. It was also the third year in a row that it was essentially hosted by Canada, because we all know that last year’s tournament in Buffalo was overrun by Canadian fans.

So what’s wrong with Team Canada? First off, they’re playing under the tremendous pressure of being expected to win it all, regardless of competition or their own skill.

Think about this: Canada is the only country in the world that cares THIS much about the world juniors. So much so that it gets to host the tournament basically every other year.

Many Canadians will use their winter holidays to take a pilgrimage of sorts to watch the kids compete and it’s a lot easier to afford to fly to Calgary than the Czech Republic or Finland.

Next year, when the tournament will be held in the nearly-unheard-of town of Ufa, Russia, it’s a lot easier to see Canada reclaiming its world juniors throne. Without a circus following the team and expectations lowered after their recent failings, it seems like the perfect storm to take the young Canadians back to the pinnacle.

Of course, I don’t want to be putting pressure on the kids already.

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So now, we’ll be getting a newly approved overhaul of the league: Four new “conferences,” a redo of the playoff format and a tweaked schedule. So, what are positives and negatives that we can take away this decision made Monday at the NHL GM meetings.

Pro: Winnipeg is no longer in a division with a bunch of teams in the southeastern states. This may cost players and beat writers thousands of frequent flyer miles and more than their fair share of days on the beach between games on a road trip, but it will certainly alleviate a lot of stress.

Con: Calling the team groupings “conferences” instead of “divisions.” It’s just a small thing, but it would make things a lot simpler. Especially when you consider that every year teams will meet in de facto Eastern and Western Conference finals to decide who goes to the Stanley Cup final.

Pro: Every team will now face each non-conference opponent twice – home and away. It never made sense to me to begin with that you don’t visit every city every year or play each team twice. Why shouldn’t western fans get to see Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin visit their town once a year? Why can’t the Sedin twins travel to each east coast city? And why do you need to face your division opponents eight times each per season? Fostering rivalries is fine, but that was overkill.

Con: There are two eight team conferences and two with seven. While it’s impossible to split things up evenly since they are 30 teams in the league (and we’re surprisingly more likely to see expansion than contraction), why are the two western conferences the ones with eight teams each? It would have been easy enough to move one of Nashville, Detroit and Columbus east.

Pro: Conference playoffs will bring out some intense rivalry games. Having an increased chance for a classic matchup like Detroit-Chicago, Toronto-Montreal, Philadelphia-Pittsburgh or Calgary-Edmonton playoff series every year can only be a good thing. Sure, it might hurt expanding new rivalries, but there’s more money in the old-school stuff.

Con: Conference playoffs will ensure that some good teams don’t make it into the post-season. Look at the standings right now and look who would be in with the current system and who would be out next year. Four of the top teams in the current Western Conference will be in the same division next year. Sure would suck to be those other four squads stuck with them. It’s no better in the current East, where five of the top eight teams will be division foes next year. So, to say the least, the competitive balance is a little screwy.

Pro: There’s room for future realignment, if you know what I mean. With all kinds of talk, substantiated or not, we could either see more teams more or the league expand. With this new conference setup a team that moves from, say, Phoenix to Quebec City could simply just leave one conference and join another with very few ramifications.

Pro: We’re still – reportedly – guaranteed an East-West Stanley Cup final.

Con: That East-West final could still be Detroit facing Toronto, about four and a half hours apart driving. Or even better (and even more unlikely) Pittsburgh could face Columbus, which is a mere three hours away.

I have a few minor pros and cons that aren’t really big enough to break out, but heck, let’s go over them anyway.

Pros:
-East teams that play in the West get some travel relief. Looking your way Detroit, Columbus, Nashville and Dallas.
-Less travel overall means less tired players. That means higher quality of play.

Cons:
-The Islanders are essentially screwed. I wouldn’t bet on them making the playoffs in the near future.
-The season is still too long. Hopefully they can either shorten the schedule completely or think of something to end the final before June comes.
-Tampa and Florida are grouped in with the former Northeast division? I mean, come on. Where’s the geographical relevance there other than what time zone they’re in?

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There’s a reason the NBA commissioner is using terms like “miles apart” when referring to negotiations between the league and the players union – he’s not trying to foster hope for a season starting soon. It’s because these two groups have legitimate problems.

Both sides have their arguments. The owners mainly want a bigger split of the shared revenue and the players want to continue raking in the dough from the contracts that the same owners signed them to. You would think that there’s a halfway point where the sides can meet, but apparently not.

The only way that this lockout was going to be settled was for the league to miss games and for the players to – sadly – miss some paycheques. Once some of the lesser names and guys who managed their money poorly are losing their livelihood, maybe then we’ll see some real progress.

I, like many others, think that there will be a season – just a severely shortened one. I would guess the sides would work out a deal around Christmas time, and the league will be back in late January. Sure, the league will lose a lot of casual fans – ones that were earned with the recent boom of talent and last spring’s fabulous playoffs – but in the long run, everyone will benefit.

The NBA was living with a system that was inherently deeply broken. It needs to be fixed for the NBA to be a viable money-making machine like every other major professional sport in North America is. Look at the NHL right now. Ice hockey sat out an entire year, but is currently starting to boom again.

The NHL is another example of how installing a hard cap isn’t the worst thing in the world. Since 2005, it has gone up every year and has jumped from the original $39 million to a whopping $64.3 million this year.

But, of course, now the NHL has their CBA running and the word on everyone’s lips – sadly – is “lockout.”

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