NHL All Star Weekend Thread

[ubkev]

So LA 50th > Toronto 100th?

Duh

 

 

#merica

[JJFIVEOH]

Man, I really enjoyed that much more than I thought I would. Glad to see it all worked out for John Scott. It's a shame that it was probably his last NHL game and that the league is close to exterminating every player like him. I fear the loss of his type and that aspect of the game will eventually lead to my loss of interest within a few years.

[Huckleberry]

man that EA cover actually looks good, they should consider it :p

[Rasmus_]

It was fun, the pass from ROR to Ekblad was classic!  Ekblad seriously used his speed to crash the net like a forward there.  He's going to get major bank as early as July 1st.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

 

Could be wrong, but I thought they announced the MVP was a fan vote.

 

You are correct.

 

The fans voted Scott into the All-Star game as a write-in candidate and they did the same for the MVP, which I have  to say he deserved.

 

EDIT TO ADD:

 

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/nhl-all-star-game-recap-1.3427978

Edited February 1, 2016 by Sabres Fan In NS

[3putt]

Someone up there is smiling on Scott.  Most players don't go out of the NHL being made a folk-hero.

I smell a country song in there somewhere. ..

[Jsixspd]

A visual of what Scott did to Bettman today...

 

http://twitter.com/blogesalming/status/693985010441981955

 

(Actually NOT really John Scott, despite the name, but a hilarious parody account.)

 

John Scott ‏@RealJohnScott  4h4 hours ago

Scored that goal for fat a## Milbury the guys still salty he sucked a## and now he's in the broadcast booth with a tiny d##k #CapnScott

That had to stick in Bettman's craw -  the NHL pressuring Scott to step down out of the All-Star game, and all the other maneuvering....I've no doubt it had his blessing.   I love it!!!

 

The NHL (Bettman?)  tried to shame John into stepping down by implying his own kids would be ashamed of their father being in a game he didn't deserve to be in.   Well,  John Scott's kids have every reason to be PROUD of their father and the way he stepped up for the biggest game of his life!   

[That Aud Smell]

The Canadian national anthem as a country waltz. I like it.

 

Talented kids. But that more of a dirge than a waltz. The Canadian anthem is one of the most stirring out there -- I didn't care for the way they muted it.

 

John Scotts twitter is straight fire right now

 

(Parody account.)

[Jsixspd]

Yesterday was also the 3rd anniversary of this memorable John Scott moment when he played for the Sabres

Edited February 1, 2016 by Jsixspd

[WildCard]

Once again, Buffalo is the best hockey market

https://twitter.com/BNHarrington/status/694180488160923648

[Cereal]

Once again, Buffalo is the best hockey market

https://twitter.com/BNHarrington/status/694180488160923648

Nice.  Also, on Buffalo hosting a future ASG:

Mike Harrington ‏@BNHarrington 1h1 hour ago

@MrMomforNow 1978. As discussed here yesterday, zero chance. Inadequate convention space for ancillary activities.

Potatooooo, are you alive, man?  I'd like to hear your perspective on everything you took in.

[Hoss]

Once again, Buffalo is the best hockey market

https://twitter.com/BNHarrington/status/694180488160923648

How many of them were Southern Ontario Leaf fans who came across the border to use OUR tvs, though?

[LTS]

So LA 50th > Toronto 100th?

 

I would imagine it might be more like "Hey Toronto, Winter Classic or ASG?"

 

Toronto: We'll take the outdoor game.  Our entire team gets to play in it.

 

The EA NHL cover was fantastic work.  Too bad the game itself won't be worthy enough of such greatness.

[MattPie]

Toronto will obviously get next years, but after that could we see one in Buffalo before the 50th anniversary?

 

It's Vancouvers 50th too, so they'd probably have that in their favor plus being a larger, slightly more Canadian city.

 

[Iron Crotch]

Nice.  Also, on Buffalo hosting a future ASG:

Mike Harrington ‏@BNHarrington 1h1 hour ago

@MrMomforNow 1978. As discussed here yesterday, zero chance. Inadequate convention space for ancillary activities.

Potatooooo, are you alive, man?  I'd like to hear your perspective on everything you took in.

 

They had a lot of outdoor activities outside of the arena like an outdoor rink, giant pucks all over town (one for each player), and a concert stage. I checked out the NHL fan fair on Saturday, which used the new convention center and was pretty massive in scale. Honestly, it was a waste of money. All of the displays were generic and the few things worth doing (autographs, getting pictures with the Cup, etc.) had very long lines. They charged $20 per person for the fan fair, which was open from Thursday through Sunday. It's a big money grab for the NHL.

 

What was most fun for me was simply interacting with the fans of the various teams at the bars downtown. I saw fans from just about every team. And, there was a whole lot of drinking going on!

 

The skills competition and game were worth seeing once. Not sure I'd pay the jacked up prices to do it again. But, as a "bucket list" sort of thing, it was worth it.

[WildCard]

Nice.  Also, on Buffalo hosting a future ASG:

Mike Harrington ‏@BNHarrington 1h1 hour ago

@MrMomforNow 1978. As discussed here yesterday, zero chance. Inadequate convention space for ancillary activities.

Potatooooo, are you alive, man?  I'd like to hear your perspective on everything you took in.

I'm confused. Is he saying we haven't had it since 1978 for those reasons, or that we still don't have the facilities for it?

 

How many of them were Southern Ontario Leaf fans who came across the border to use OUR tvs, though?

I sat brooding and whining about Scott in a corner the whole time they were over my house though, so I didn't care  :lol:

 

I would imagine it might be more like "Hey Toronto, Winter Classic or ASG?"

 

Toronto: We'll take the outdoor game.  Our entire team gets to play in it.

 

The EA NHL cover was fantastic work.  Too bad the game itself won't be worthy enough of such greatness.

Great point. Did not think of that. Hands down I take the WC

 

It's Vancouvers 50th too, so they'd probably have that in their favor plus being a larger, slightly more Canadian city.

Man, that really blows, because you're totally right. They'll easily get it. But, as LTS posted above, that means we'll get the WC

[Eleven]

I'm confused. Is he saying we haven't had it since 1978 for those reasons, or that we still don't have the facilities for it?

 

 

 

He's saying we still don't have the facilities for it, but I'm not sure he's right.  I'm also not sure he's wrong.

 

Our convention center is a joke.

 

That said, what are all the "ancillary activities" that the NHL has for its all-star game?  It's not the Super Bowl.

[JJFIVEOH]

How did they manage to write in and tabulate MVP fan votes in a matter of minutes?

Edited February 1, 2016 by JJFIVEOH

[WildCard]

He's saying we still don't have the facilities for it, but I'm not sure he's right. I'm also not sure he's wrong.

 

Our convention center is a joke.

 

That said, what are all the "ancillary activities" that the NHL has for its all-star game? It's not the Super Bowl.

Where is our convention center?

 

I feel like if we can host the WJ's, the combine and the draft, then we can do the damn ASG

[Eleven]

Where is our convention center?

 

I feel like if we can host the WJ's, the combine and the draft, then we can do the damn ASG

 

 

The convention center is on Franklin.  It's about a ten minute walk to the Arena.  It doesn't get much except auto, boat, and home shows.  Oh, and the bar exam.  

 

We have the hotel space, but I don't know what types of parties the league likes to throw.

 

From what Potato wrote above, it seems to me that we could handle it.

[Doohicksie]

He's saying we still don't have the facilities for it, but I'm not sure he's right.  I'm also not sure he's wrong.

 

Our convention center is a joke.

 

That said, what are all the "ancillary activities" that the NHL has for its all-star game?  It's not the Super Bowl.

 

Just for comparison sake, I looked up the Fort Worth Convention Center:  253,226 sq. ft. of exhibit space with a 13,000 seat attached arena.  And the word here is that it's not adequate; they're looking into building a new off-site arena and adding that space into the Convention Center as a grand ballroom that can be reconfigured into more exhibit space.

 

Buffalo Convention Center:  110,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space.  And Fort Worth isn't even a major league city.  Maybe some of Mr. Wilson's economic development money should be spent to bring the Buffalo Convention Center up to snuff.

Edited February 2, 2016 by The Big Johnson

[Taro T]

Just for comparison sake, I looked up the Fort Worth Convention Center:  253,226 sq. ft. of exhibit space with a 13,000 seat attached arena.  And the word here is that it's not adequate; they're looking into building a new off-site arena and adding that space into the Convention Center as a grand ballroom that can be reconfigured into more exhibit space.

 

Buffalo Convention Center:  110,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space.  And Fort Worth isn't even a major league city.  Maybe some of Mr. Wilson's economic development money should be spent to bring the Buffalo Convention Center up to snuff.

I've been a huge proponent of a new convention center for a long time. Thought the Aud should've been made into one before it became toxic & had to come down.

 

Buffalo's convention center was pathetically sad & outdated 20 years ago. Maybe (probably not) Main Place Mall could be redone as a convention center.

[JJFIVEOH]

So Larkin didn't really break Gartner's speed record. Larkin started at the blue line so he got a running start to the red line. Gartner started from a standstill from the redline, not to mention the fact that he was timed from the start of the whistle so he lost .1 because of reaction time alone.

 

[Iron Crotch]

Just for comparison sake, I looked up the Fort Worth Convention Center:  253,226 sq. ft. of exhibit space with a 13,000 seat attached arena.  And the word here is that it's not adequate; they're looking into building a new off-site arena and adding that space into the Convention Center as a grand ballroom that can be reconfigured into more exhibit space.

 

Buffalo Convention Center:  110,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space.  And Fort Worth isn't even a major league city.  Maybe some of Mr. Wilson's economic development money should be spent to bring the Buffalo Convention Center up to snuff.

 

Yep. The Music City Center in Nashville has 350,000 square feet of exhibit space and 1.2 million square feet in total space. Plus over 10,000 hotel rooms and countless bars and restaurants (and country music stuff) within a few blocks of the arena. That's what the NHL is ideally looking for. Buffalo, unfortunately, is way behind when it comes to hosting tourist events like this. That is one of the reasons the Bills future new downtown stadium will likely be domed. If domed it can be used as spillover convention space, similar to Atlanta, if a new convention center and convention hotel are built in close proximity to the stadium.

Edited February 2, 2016 by Potato

[Drunkard]

Aren't convention centers giant money pits though? I remember reading some articles that talked about how the number of conventions overall have been trending down in recent decades and how even the best rated convention centers (like the one in DC) fail to meet their goals or even turn a profit most years.