The Game
The 52nd NHL All-Star Game was highlighted by Pittsburgh Penguins' Mario Lemieux's 13th career goal which tied Wayne Gretzky for the most goals scored in All-Star Game competition, Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Nikolai Khabibulin's flawless third period and a flawed MVP selection process. Three players would put up three-point performances that included North American All-Stars Chicago Blackhawks' leftwinger Eric Daze (2–1–3) and San Jose Sharks' centre Vincent Damphousse (1–2–3), while Vancouver Canucks' left winger Markus Naslund (2–1–3) would be the only player for the World All-Stars to score three points. The World All-Stars rallied for 5 goals in the third period and a come-back win. Daze who was appearing in his first All-Star Game, was chosen as All-Star MVP, becoming the first Blackhawk player to win the award since 1971 when Bobby Hull won the award. A minor controversy ensued over the MVP selection, as World All-Stars goalie Khabibulin recorded a third period shutout that allowed the his team to storm back from 5-3 down. Apparently voting was conducted with about 5 minutes remaining in the game while the North American All-Stars still held the lead. Afterwards the talk in both locker rooms was about the Russian goaltender's play, what it might mean for the upcoming Olympics in two weeks and their disappointment that his 20 save performance didn't win him an honor, which many of them thought was both deserved and obvious.
Read more about this topic: 52nd National Hockey League All-Star Game
Famous quotes containing the word game:
“The chess-board is the world; the pieces are the phenomena of the universe; the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature. The player on the other side is hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair, just, and patient. But also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895)
“Old age is far more than white hair, wrinkles, the feeling that it is too late and the game finished, that the stage belongs to the rising generations. The true evil is not the weakening of the body, but the indifference of the soul.”
—André Maurois (1885–1967)