1. Sabotage Hockey
This would be the best version the All-Star Game has ever had. The league could either keep its 3-on-3 setup or revert back to a tradition 5-on-5. The number of players on ice is irrelevant. Either way, the coaches on both benches are presented with a long list of potential sabotages. This list would include items that have the players to do things to make playing more difficult.
The game would be played with three-minute buzzers à la entry age minor hockey. For each shift, the coach would choose a sabotage for their opponents. These could include: forcing a team to play with their sticks turned over, strapping a parachute to the back of the players, connecting the defensemen at the waste via an elastic strap so that they cannot get too far apart from one another, switching out all the players’ sticks for mini sticks, replacing the players’ visors for special ones that are actually fish tanks full of water, etc.
The more creative the sabotages, the more enthralled the audience is sure to be. Each coach could choose one sabotage per shift and cannot repeat any. This level of entertainment isn’t available anywhere in the world. There’s no doubt that it would be fun for all Leafs fans to see rival players forced into odd and awkward circumstances.
After a great showing from Andersen and Marner in St. Louis, the Maple Leafs should be proud of how well their team was represented. When the NHL institutes some of the above suggestions, not only will the Maple Leafs’ players look good at the All-Star Game, but they’ll be entertaining far more viewers too.