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NHL’s All-Star Selection from Calgary a Missed Opportunity

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4 months ago

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Elias Lindholm

Ah, the NHL All-Star game.  

Every season has disappointments. In 2022-2023, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Calgary Flames surprised almost every early season prediction and missed the playoffs. Flames Jonathan Huberdeau stood out in the player category with a 60-point drop in production from his previous season in Florida. 

2021-2022? The Golden Knights collectively broke down over the final stretch and fell out of the postseason picture. By early February 2022, the most significant disappointments among skaters included Elias Pettersson, Jack Roslovic, and Stars power duo Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin.  

While the albums next to the record player may vary based on the year, one perennial presence on the NHL Disappointment Audio Cabinet is the NHL All-Star game.  

Another consistency is that every season, without faltering, the selections for player attendees far overshadow the actual event.

John Scott being voted in, stating that he hoped he wouldn’t be, proceeding to get gaslighted by the League into thinking that his presence was something his kids wouldn’t be proud of, and finally being subsequently banished from the league stands as the the monolith of this concept. To this day, mentioning the All-Star Game to any given NHL fan will eventually lead the conversation to 2016 NHL All-Star MVP John Scott.  

Although the most dramatic, John’s unique journey out of the League is far from the only example of All-Star selections being bigger news than the game itself.  

The collective Vancouver Canucks fanbase was disappointed when Rory Fitzpatrick almost did what Scott managed to do. Latvia and the city of Buffalo banded together and succeeded in getting Zemgus Girgensons in attendance at the 2015 NHL All-Star Game.  

Last season, the biggest news around the event was that Bo Horvat would be representing the Pacific Division despite playing for the New York Islanders of the Metropolitan Division.  

2022 bucked the trend when the biggest story was Jon Hamm disregarding how great Trevor Zegras was at deking and just giving his buddy Alex Pietrangelo a 19 out of 10 in the breakaway challenge. 

Blindfolded, in an Average Joes uniform, and performs a mind-blowing deke. There couldn’t be a more marketable moment, and they handed it off to Hamm for the nepotism vote. Still, it was a memorable, fun experience.

This season? The talk is generally circulating the Seattle Kraken having a bit of fun with a video of Oliver Bjorkstand having to cancel his AirBnB due to being selected to attend. 


Oliver leaned into it, because unless the NHL thinks you don’t belong there, it’s supposed to be fun.


The 2023-2024 Calgary Flames Selection

True to the nature of the event, the Flames 2024 attendee, as selected by the League, will be Elias Lindholm.  

Lindholm, 29, is having a respectable season. Calgary’s first line center currently sits tied for third in team scoring with eight goals and 17 assists in 38 games.  

The 6-foot-1, 201-pound from Boden, Sweden, leads all Flames forwards in time on ice per game with a clean average of 21:00. He leads all Flames forwards in shorthanded time of ice per game at 2:29. He leads all Flames forwards in power play ice time per game with 3:27.  

Ok, we get it. He’s the backbone of the forward group. Therein lies the issue.

Elias Lindholm is the backbone due to the structure of his on-ice product. The 5th overall pick in 2013 has never been the most exciting player on the top line.

He played good cop to Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk’s bad cop. Often, Lindholm would stay well back to ensure a safe breakout while Johnny handled the zone entry, and Tkachuk could eventually do his thing in the offensive zone. With the current iteration of the Flames, Sharangovich is growing into what Gaudreau’s role was in terms of creating space, and Jonathan Huberdeau provides what he can in terms of fundamentals, moving the puck up the ice.   

Lindholm this season, like every other season, has maintained his identity as a player: a notoriously reliable center who will always make sure that his role is performed responsibly.  

Exactly what you want to see at the 2024 All-Star Game.

Nothing draws attention from outside an isolated North American hockey market and grows the sport like active sticks blocking passing lanes. Tight gap management is excellent for getting younger viewers engaged in the game. The NHL should bring back the two-line pass rule for the event while they’re at it. 

Sarcasm. 

There is a chance that Lindholm lowers his hands in Nate Diaz style and plays some high-risk hockey. It’s not that Lindholm doesn’t have that ability; that’s just not his style. Every player has a flavor to their game and Elias’ is one that can glue together a top unit at the highest level.  

With that said, ask yourself this.  

How many people watching the Flames this season would say that Lindholm has been more fun to watch than, say, Yegor Sharangovich’s combination of wingspan dekes and high-end acceleration? How about Yegor’s sublime breakaway skills and lightning-quick release?  

What would give a fanbase more confidence in their new general manager than seeing his first-ever acquisition attending the All-Star Game?  

Here is the kicker, and yes, there is a kicker.

The rules are changing for the NHL All-Star Skills Competition. The League picks eight participants of the 44 attendees to participate, and the fans pick the other four. Per an NHL media release: 

Each will compete in four of the first six events: the Fastenal NHL Fastest Skater, Rogers NHL Hardest Shot, Upper Deck NHL Stick Handling, NHL One Timers, NHL Passing Challenge and Cheetos NHL Accuracy Shooting. First place will be worth five points, second place four points and so on. 

The top eight will advance to the seventh event: the Honda NHL Shoot Out. 

The individual prize for winning is 1 million dollars. Right, there is the story. One that the League could market because clearly, the public wants to see an underdog or two at this event.

In what world does the hockey world not rally around the Belarusian underdog and vote him in if he’s in attendance? Say he makes it through to the final event; how fun would it be to watch the Calgary Flames shootout ace bring it home against the league’s best? 

Perfectly on brand, the League chose the less spicy option from Calgary. After all, bland is the modus operandi when it comes to anything beyond oversaturating big names at the NHL All-Star Game.

Despite having one of the most chaotic products in the sports world to promote, the League picks the players it wants to pump and does its best to limit storylines to something it can keep its arms around. Five years from now, the 2024 NHL All-Star game will likely be known as The one where Oliver Bjorkstrand had to cancel his AirBnB.

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