Hoffman on ASG: Top 10 all-star moments
Posted January 28, 2012 12:25 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
When it comes to the NHL all-star game, every hockey fan, player, and media outlet knows that everything is for show. However, just because the event’s purpose attracts fans and pay homage to the league’s top players of today, that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t produced exciting moments. Let’s take a look at 10 all-star attention-grabbers:
10. Russians Ovechkin and Malkin make up in 2009 One would think that two players from the same country who played on many of the same international teams and roomed together during the 2006 Winter Olympic Games would be best of friends.
While that was true for a period of time, there was a feud between two of the league’s superstars in Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Neither Ovechkin or Malkin revealed what the feud was over, but it could definitely be seen on the ice during the 2008-09 season as Ovechkin looked to hit Malkin at every turn on the ice.
However, the feud ceased at the 2009 All-Star Skills Competition in Montreal as Ovechkin and Malkin shared a great and funny moment together:
9. Heatley scores four in Florida Back in the early 2000s, the Minnesota Wild’s Dany Heatley was a scoring machine for the now-defunct Atlanta Thrashers.
The 2002-03 season happened to be Heatley’s breakout year. Heatley scored 41 goals and picked up 48 assists for 89 points.
However, the greatest moment of his season might have come at the all-star game in Florida. In that game, Heatley scored four goals in regulation, tying an all-star game record, then topped it off by scoring the only goal for the Eastern Conference in the shootout.
Unfortunately, much like his Thrashers that season, Heatley’s team lost.
8. Richter stops Bure on a breakaway and wins 1994 All-Star MVP You’re probably asking yourself why this is such a great moment.
Believe it or not, New York Rangers’ netminder Mike Richter’s stop on Vancouver Canucks electrifying superstar Pavel Bure at Madison Square Garden was a precursor to what would happen in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Rangers and Vancouver Canucks.
Here is what happened at the all-star game:
And here is what happened in 1994:
7. Gordie Howe returns to Detroit for the 1980 NHL All-Star Game After playing 25 seasons in Detroit for the Red Wings, one knew that if he were to ever return to Motown, Gordie Howe would get a standing ovation that could be heard throughout Detroit and the hockey world.
Howe got a chance to do just that in 1980, when he was once again an all-star and playing in Detroit, this time at the Joe Louis Arena rather than at the Detroit Olympia:
6. The U.S. National Anthem at Chicago For much of the first half of the 1990-91 season, the Gulf War between 34 nations, led by the United States, and Iraq had been going on.
When the NHL all-star game arrived in Chicago in January of 1991, hockey fans were more patriotic than ever when Wayne Messmer sang the national anthem:
5. Owen Nolan calls his shot When the all-star game rolled into San Jose in 1997, fans came out to watch not only the league’s great players of that particular season, but also to watch the Sharks’ very own Owen Nolan.
Nolan would not disappoint as he picked up a hat trick, including a goal scored against Buffalo Sabres’ goaltender Dominik Hasek that will go down as one of best in all-star history:
4. DiPietro drops an F-bomb in 2008 Everyone knows that when it comes to New York Islanders’ fragile netminder Rick DiPietro, there is always a chance that he is going to hurt himself when he gets between the pipes.
Hockey fans got the perfect taste of that in 2007 in Atlanta when in the skills competition, DiPietro hurt himself while trying stop Marian Gaborik in the Breakaway Challenge.
While Isles fans probably muttered obscenities while watching DiPietro stretch to make the stop, DiPietro did one better:
3. Mario puts on a show in Pittsburgh Much like we showed with Nolan, “Le Magnifique” Mario Lemieux gave both Penguins and NHL fans a treat at the 1989-90 NHL All-Star Game in Pittsburgh.
In that game, Lemieux scored four goals (three on his first three shots), helped the Wales Conference to a 12-7 victory and won his third All-Star Game MVP.
All of Lemieux’s goals were oh so magnificent:
2. Bourque lifts Eastern Conference in Boston If you haven’t noticed, players seem to rise to the occasion when playing in the all-star game at their home arena.
Another great example of this is what Hall of Fame defenceman Raymond Bourque did in the 1996 NHL All-Star Game in Boston. With the game tied at 4-4, Bourque beat Toronto Maple Leafs’ netminder Felix Potvin with just 37.3 seconds to go in the third period to give the Eastern Conference a 5-4 victory.
His goal inevitably allowed him to win the game’s MVP:
1. The Great One scores four on Long Island In saving the best for last, it is only right that Wayne Gretzky’s performance in the 1983 NHL All-Star game in Long Island go down as the No. 1 moment.
In that game, Gretzky scored four goals in the third period to set a record for most goals in an All-Star Game (since tied by Heatley) and won his first All-Star Game MVP award.
