How the Toronto Maple Leafs and NHL Can Improve All-Star Events

7. Off-Ice Skills Challenges

Fans of the game get to see their favourite players compete in only one athletic competition, playing hockey. At the NHL All-Star Skills Competition, each conference would nominate two players. One of each group’s nominees would then challenge another squad’s player to one of the preset options of off-ice skills.

Those skills could be almost anything. A player can challenge another to an eating contest, a wrestling match, a showdown to see who can type more words correctly in two minutes, a physical education style rope climbing contest, a spelling bee, etc.

Viewers would still get their fill of hockey, but part of the evening would break away from it so that Andersen and a teammate of his choice could obliterate Braden Holtby and his partner in a game of charades.

6. Survivor Hockey

Survivor Hockey would take place during a 5-on-5 game. Each time a goal is scored during the match, it eliminates someone from the opposing team. At first, each goal would knock someone off the bench beginning with the coaches. (Taking out the coaches first allows all players to get their touches.)

As the puck fills the nets, the benches would begin to thin. Eventually, when a team is no longer able to ice five skaters, they’d drop down to four on the ice.

The game would continue at five-on-four until the next goal is scored, which would either even things up at four or give one group a five-on-three advantage. Things would continue like this until there was just one skater remaining for a team. Once he is scored on, the game would be decided.

5. Sticks in the Middle

Instead of dividing teams based on the division in which they play, instead, they would create rosters the same way that it happens at shinny. Every All-Star would enter onto the ice for their introduction and then immediately drop their stick at the center dot.

Once every player’s stick is lying on the ice, an alumnus of the game would come out to be honoured. For example, if the game were in Toronto, Wendel Clark would be welcomed to center ice to throw all the sticks in four directions, building a random group of four teams.

The goalie sticks are easily recognizable, which would allow them to be separated on different squads, but there is no guarantee a team would be evenly made up of both forwards and defensemen.

Creating a squad full of a single position would add even more interest in the competition. How might a team comprised solely of defensemen fare?