NHL All-Star Game scraps format, is now 3-on-3 divisional tournament

It’s been long rumored that the NHL All-Star Game was going to undergo its every-few-years makeover, with a 3-on-3 format being implemented next January in Nashville. 

Well, the details are spilling out courtesy of TSN’s Bob McKenzie, and the NHL is basically blowing up the current framework of the All-Star Game. No more fantasy teams with individual captains. No more all-star fantasy draft.

Instead, the NHL is going with three 20-minute mini-games.

From McKenzie on Insider Trading:

“There’s going to be a 3-on-3 mini-game format for the All-Star Game. The National Hockey League Players Association recently signed off on that format, and the expectation is that the League will be making some sort of formal announcement about it tomorrow.

“What we believe to be the case is that the fantasy draft will be dead. Instead, there will be four divisional teams – nine or 10 skaters apiece, a couple of goaltenders. The two teams in the Eastern Conference would play a 20-minute mini-game. The two teams in the Western Conference would play a 20-minute mini-game. And then you would have the two winners play a 20-minute mini-game.”

Can’t wait to hear Erik Karlsson and the anti-3-on-3 players react to this one! 

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Now, the divisional format is a great idea.

While the NHL has always played around with its all-star game allegiances – think “North America vs. The World” and the recent captain vs. captain format – these events always seem to work better when it’s just a simple conference vs. conference bragging rights setup. Or, in this case, “will the Central beat the Pacific in 3-on-3?”

But let’s all pour a little out for the NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft, the most wonderful night of drunken tomfoolery this side of the NHL Awards. We’ll always have you, last pick Phil Kessel and Alex Ovechkin silliness. 

We’ll Pass/Fail this when the NHL announces it formally, but what do you think?

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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