I’m tired of the TSN and Sportsnet hockey analysts complaining about the NHL‘s all-star format. “Have the Stanley Cup champs play the European all-stars or the rest of the league’s best,” I’ve heard proposed.

Fellas, you are all missing the point of this.

The all-star break is a break in the schedule, an opportunity for the players to get some rest. That’s why it is scheduled mid-season.

It’s a chance for them to get together with their comrades and hang out for a couple of days, away from the pressure of “win, win, win.”

It’s a chance for them to have some fun. Remember that? Having fun on the ice?

I enjoyed watching this year’s all-star game. It was relaxed and easy-going, the commentary and conversations with the coaches on the bench were hilarious, and it was clear to me that the players were having fun.

Sure, the game was played like it was happening on a frozen pond, but that’s where the game came from in the first place, and that’s where – to this day – we all have the most fun playing.

I love to watch people who are enjoying themselves, whether it’s the actors on the Ocean’s 11 remakes (terrible films, but you can see how much fun everyone has when they don’t have to take themselves so seriously all the time) or NHL hockey players in a game of shinny.

When did the all-star game become about points and advantages and meaning something? The NBA and NFL don’t take their all-star or pro bowl games that seriously. Hell, the NFL pro bowl takes place in Hawaii for a reason.

I’m not wrong on this, either, so don’t even bother arguing that the league needs to lure American fans and the best way to do that is the all-star game. Baloney. If Americans are going to migrate to hockey, the only thing that will make that happen is billions of dollars spent in marketing and advertising, and that is a slow process that is already underway.

The NHL all-star game is exactly what I want to see: a group of the league’s best players having fun while playing the game we all love.

It doesn’t need to be anything more than that.