The NHL is set to debut a new All-Star Game format Sunday evening, though that's not what much of the focus will probably be on. Sure, the 3-on-3 format made famous by overtime this year is the centerpiece, but so far, the stories are on who's attending, and who's not.
Alex Ovechkin and Jonathan Toews are both absent from the All-Star festivities in Nashville due to injury and illness respectively and they'll both have to sit out a game thanks to it. But, this is perfectly okay! For the All-Star Game to not fall to the likes of the NFL's Pro-Bowl, this rule makes the NHL All-Star Game better because of it.
Click Here To Watch NHL All Star Game 2016 Live Streaming
Alex Ovechkin and Jonathan Toews are both absent from the All-Star festivities in Nashville due to injury and illness respectively and they'll both have to sit out a game thanks to it. But, this is perfectly okay! For the All-Star Game to not fall to the likes of the NFL's Pro-Bowl, this rule makes the NHL All-Star Game better because of it.
Click Here To Watch NHL All Star Game 2016 Live Streaming
But enough about the NFL, John Scott is in the All-Star Game! After captaining the Pacific Division in the Skills Competition on Saturday, Scott will lead his team against the deadly Central in the second of two preliminary matchups. Outside of the 3-on-3, the All-Star Game will feature four different teams based on the divisions across the league, with the two teams in the east playing to decide the Eastern Conference champion while the west does the same for the Western Conference.
The games will be 20 minute matches with the 3-on-3 style, allowing all six forwards, three defensemen and two goaltenders a chance to play on each team. Stepping in for Ovechkin and Toews in the Metro and Central are Evgeny Kuznetsov of the Washington Capitals and James Neal of the hometown Nashville Predators.
Sure, this might just all be a gimmick, but a packed house in Nashville is about to sit down to watch this new format unfold, so let's cut it some slack. Enjoy yourselves out there.