NHL Outdoor All Star Game: Why Not?

I know it's time to be talking playoffs, but I would like to take some time to discuss an important issue of the recent past, the NHL All Star Game. 

To say the ratings and excitement for this annual event has been minimal would be a huge understatement.

Let me show you the TV ratings for the past seven All Star Games by approximate number of households viewing the event and how much this has either gone up or down compared to the prior year.

'08  - 796,717  +18%

'07  - 474,298  -76.1%

'06  No game due to the '06 Winter Olympics

'05  No game due to the lockout

'04  - 1,985,000  +6.5%

'03  - 1,864,000  +0.1%

'02  - 1,863,000  +9.6%

'01  - 1,700,000   -36.6%

'00  - 2,681,000  +20.8%

Compare these numbers to the recent NBA All Star Game, which had about five million viewers. Versus is available in 74 million homes. So only 1.1% of people with Versus are watching the All-Star game? That's pathetic.

What is the NHL doing wrong? What could they do better?  Here's my take.

I'm a fan of the All Star Game, and especially the skills competition, but let's face it, it's just not exciting anymore.

Players clearly don't seem to care, and they lie through their teeth when asked about the weekend.  It seems like every player has the same answer, "I'm just excited to be here, playing with such talent," or a variation of this.

Aside from Rick Dipietro and Manny Legace making in-game comments while mic'd up, the entire weekend was a snooze fest.

They changed my favorite event, the fastest skater. Now the two players merely sprint half the length of the ice.  Is that a joke? They claim it's too dangerous for playing to cut the corners, yet I have never seen a player get hurt during that competition.

Remember Sergei Fedorov racing Mike Gartner around the rink? It made me stand up and mimic their strides with head bob's as they came close to the finish line.

Remember Ray Bourque fist pumping on his knees when he went four for four on the accuracy targets? And Jeremy Roenick always gave the camera a good show and always had funny things to say.

I could go on and on about the "good days" of the All Star Weekend, but those days are gone.

Players today are clearly bothered by spending a weekend of their time at the event.  The NHL is actually thinking of scrapping the whole event.  I doubt this will ever happen, but it's scary to think things are that bad.

The NHL tried introducing new events such as the breakaway contest, where players would be rated by judges for creativity.  It failed miserably.

No offense to Dominique Wilkins, but what does he know about hockey and the skill involved? That was just a slap in the face to me.

Alex Ovechkin was obviously the only player with a sense of humor, as he at least attempted to throw the puck up in the air and do a couple spins.  Most tried simple breakaway moves I could do in my sleep.

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