NHL All Star Game Recap - sk88z's Blog

sk88z's Blog

NHL All Star Game Recap

Posted on January 28, 2009 at 07:15 PM.

(0)

Originally posted on EA SPORTS World

Check out my Saturday Events Recap!

The All-Star Game was nothing short of a shooter's paradise as skaters were allowed to freely roam the ice and players found lanes not usually opening up for them as they did in this contest. It was a fun display of skill that is rarely seen during the season games, and in my opinion, that's fine because for the entertainment value alone it's something to see when players hook up on some of the nice passes and goals that they pull off.

JS Giguere of the Ducks was the first goalie to go under the barrage of East shots in the first and it was tough to blame him for many of the goals he allowed as crisp passing and soft-defense led to many odd-man rushes and wide open nets to shoot at. The East jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the first as Nickolas Backstrom played strong in the East nets. Play was extra quick and it seemed some of the close off-sides weren't being called to keep the flow of the game going, which again, was totally fine with me.

One thing I thought was pretty cool with this game as well were the brief moments when they would stop to honour some of the Hall of Fame Canadiens' players that were in attendance. You could tell that it meant something for them to be there as well for the players on the ice who many never saw live being '80's babies' but probably heard many stories about.

In the second period the West caught fire Sheldon Souray would get 2 goals in the second while Alexei Kovalev would also get his 2nd of the game in the second as well. With the game tied at 8 going into the third both teams would score 3 goals each. I'm sure Roberto Luongo would've been a little sharper if he wasn't busy doing colour commentary while playing the game at the same time. Don't get me wrong here...I thought it was a pretty cool interview as every now and then the puck would go his way and he'd say, "Oh hang on a sec," make a save, and be right back talking about how he knew that the player was going to pass instead of shoot.

Both teams' wells would run dry in the last few minutes and in the overtime period the first penalty of the game had to be called (maybe?) on a would-be West breakaway to the jeers of the East-favouring crowd. The West wouldn't find the back of the net during their man-advantage and the All-Star Classic would go to a shootout where one of the big stars of the weekend, Alex Ovechkin scored the winner over Roberto Luongo.

Gotta love hockey and after a weekend like this, I'm ready for more. I'm lucky enough to have an early copy of 3-On-3 NHL Arcade though I've been really getting into it lately, after seeing some of those moves from Saturday's Fan Favourite Breakaway Challenge, I'm ready to make some pretty slick trick moves of my own.

It's a perfect time to keep the fast-pace feeling of hockey going as the NHL 09 Team at EA SPORTS Canada is excited to release 3-On-3 NHL Arcade on the Xbox Live Network and Playstation Network in early February.

Here's a look at some footage of the game and keep on coming back as all this week we'll be releasing new content from the game including Lauren Belfoy's latest blog talking about the upcoming release and a podcast with producer Matt Mahar who will chat with our EA SPORTS World podcast team. We'll also share some exclusive screens and videos over the next few days and if you're looking for a free code to the game, stay alert on our EA SPORTS World Twitter where I'll be giving away a few codes of the game.

Also added a podcast with producer Matt Mahar so make sure you check that out as well.

See you online!