NHL All Star Tickets
"The State of Hockey" sure liked the state of hockey witnessed at the 54th NHL All-Star Game Sunday. NHL All Star Tickets
The capacity crowd at the Xcel Energy Center, home of the NHL's Minnesota Wild, basked in the wide-open, breakneck paced game put on by the NHL All-Stars, as the Eastern Conference notched a 6-4 victory over the Western Conference.
"You always want to have fun in a game like this, but the most important thing is the event was a success and we put on a good show," said Colorado's Joe Sakic, who was named the Bud Light/NHL All-Star Game's Most Valuable Player after notching a hat trick, netting goals in each period.
The East was paced offensively by two goals and an assist from Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson, who spent the majority of the game playing on a line with bitter Northeast Division rivals from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Mats Sundin and Gary Roberts.
Roberts had a goal and an assist, with Sundin picking up a pair of assists.
Also enjoying a standout performance was 43-year-old Mark Messier of the New York Rangers. Messier had hinted that this was his All-Star swan song he seemed to soak it all in and enjoy the experience immeasurably. Along the way, Messier broke an All-Star record with his 14th career All-Star assist and he also added a goal in the second period.
"You have to play with pride no matter where you play whether it's an exhibition game or a pre-season game, because the fans deserve it," Messier said. "Today is no different. I thought the guys put on a great show."
For the Western Conference, Sakic's hat trick did the most damage to Eastern goaltenders Martin Brodeur, Jose Theodore and Roberto Luongo, but the trio of Quebec-born goaltenders kept the remainder of the West under control to earn the win. The Vancouver pair of Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi also had strong games. Naslund assisted on all three Sakic goals, and Bertuzzi had assists on Sakic's first two goals.
The 2004 All-Star Game saw a host of young players make their All-Star debuts and the performances of players like Columbus' Rick Nash and Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk hit a resounding note with a veteran like Sakic.
"The last couple of years some great, young players have come into the League," Sakic said. "I'm very impressed. The future is bright in this League.
Sakic was still mulling over plans for the Dodge truck he received as the All-Star MVP, and said he started to think he had a shot at it after completing the hat trick.