All Star weekend

The all-star break is upon us. This will give some players and teams some time to rest. The Hurricanes certainly need to mend themselves and find a way to right the ship. With 30 games to play, Carolina holds a very slim lead in the Southeast division. If they can come out of the break refreshed and invigorised, they should make the playoffs. Otherwise, it seems like the surging Capitals will win the SE and be its only representative in the playoffs.

The players have been told not to do anything hockey related until Monday. Eric Staal, of course, is already in Atlanta for the All-Star Game.

This year's All-Star game, plus the YoungStars game and the Skills Competition will be televised on Versus. The format will again be Eastern conference versus Western conference. The Superskills competition has been re-formatted, and looks to be very interesting. The fastest skater and hardest shot and shot accuracy competitions are still part of it, but they've included a cool obstacle course and a shootout. All the details are here.

The YoungStars game, which has usually been swept under the proverbial rug, will be a prominent feature this year, and will be televised. I don't remember that being the case in the past.

The YoungStars game and Superskills will be Saturday at 7:00 and the All-Star game will be Sunday at 6:00. I really enjoyed last year's coverage, including the excellent "mic'd up" stuff from Marty Turco. There will be more of that this year.

Versus has their web coverage here.

I can't stand watching the NFL Pro Bowl, but I always enjoy the NHL All-Star game. Obviously, there's not much hitting, and there'll be lots of scoring. I just like it because the players seem to be having a lot of fun, and we get to see the best talent in the game all at once. I predict Eric Staal and the East will win 9-7