Us vs. Them Format Rekindles Interest

Twenty seconds to play, the score tied in an up-tempo but defensively deficient NHL All-Star game. Suddenly, Mats Sundin of the hometown Toronto Maple Leafs gets free on a breakaway, shifts the puck from his forehand to his backhand and ... is stopped cold by goaltender and Toronto teammate Curtis Joseph.

Teammate against teammate? Friend against friend? Couldn’t happen?

Yes it can, and yes it has, now that the NHL All-Star game, to be played today in a long since sold-out Air Canada Centre, matches North America against the World.

Weary of too many uninteresting, 16-6 shootouts that mocked what is supposed to be hockey’s midseason showcase, the NHL unveiled its new Us vs. Them--actually, U.S. and Canada vs. Them--format in 1998.

The switch was made not only to appeal to the jingoistic tendencies of players and fans alike, but to abandon the East vs. West format that had increasingly generated games that more resembled home-run derbies than actual athletic contests.

Two games and two North American victories later, the jury remains out on whether the same formula that generates big ratings for the Olympics--in essence, America against the world--can harvest new fans to a sport with a relatively small but enormously loyal fan base.

But even Scotty Bowman, who will set what probably is an unbreakable record by coaching an All-Star game in a fifth decade, admits it will be different seeing Steve Yzerman and Nicklas Lidstrom of his Detroit Red Wings on opposing sides.

Anaheim scoring stars Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne also will be split up. But, for a change, brothers Pavel Bure of Florida and Valeri Bure of Calgary will find themselves teammates, if only for a day.

Like any All-Star game in any sport, it is the players’ show, and the players are the big reason why the 18,500 tickets were so difficult to obtain. Even if some big stars are missing because of injuries--Dominik Hasek, Pierre Turgeon, Peter Forsberg--there were plenty more to take their place.

NHL scoring leader Jaromir Jagr, the first player to receive more than 1 million votes in the fan balloting, almost skipped the game to rest thumb and rib muscle injuries.

But, aware of how many fans want to see hockey’s greatest one-on-one player for even a shift or two, Jagr hopped on a private plane to Toronto with Penguins owner Mario Lemieux immediately following a 4-2 victory Thursday over the New York Islanders.

Jagr never was a big All-Star fan, but he understands how many fans would be disappointed if he didn’t play.

“I was talking about not going there, but I feel better than I felt before,” Jagr said. “I’m not saying I’m 100 percent healthy. ... I can’t skate very well. I don’t mind the hitting but I can’t go up and down very well.”

The hitting? That’s not a problem at the All-Star game, where the only big checks were those cut for the $600 million-plus ABC and ESPN paid to televise the NHL for five seasons.

But while defense and contact are at a minimum, offensive skills are at a premium. And the players and coaches seem to take more pride in winning now that they are representing not only their teams but, even if only serendipitously, their countries.

“I think it has created some excitement,” said St. Louis coach Joel Quenneville, a World team assistant coach. “It makes the game a bit more competitive, a bit more on the line ... it brings a bit more spice, skill against the North American style.”

Also on center stage will be North American assistant coach Roger Neilson, a Toronto native who must leave the Philadelphia Flyers in March to undergo a bone marrow transplant to combat his cancer.

“I’ve only been in one of these games,” Neilson said. “It’s going to be a thrill.”