Allen: NHL All-Star Game more of a celebration than competition

Instead of being embarrassed by fans’ decision to vote Arizona Coyotes tough guy John Scott into the NHL All-Star Game, league officials should publicly thank him for wanting to play in the game.

Many players would rather not.

Florida Panthers star Jaromir Jagr, whose passion and dedication to his sport is beyond reproach, will go but said he would rather stay home and rest or go to the Bahamas.

That’s a common sentiment from players. They would rather have time off. They all love competing, but the All-Star Game hasn’t been competition for a long while.

The game has become the annual NHL convention. We all show up, talk to players on Friday about the state of the game, and then celebrate the sport with a skill demonstration on Saturday and Sunday. Usually, what players say on Friday is more interesting than the rest of the weekend.

The NHL All-Star concept is outdated, and there doesn’t appear to be anything the league can do about it. If there was, it would have been done by now.

The league is trying to spice it up again this season by making it a three-on-three competition. The novelty might help a bit, but it can’t change the fundamental reason the All-Star concept doesn’t work anymore.

No player wants to play hard enough in an exhibition to risk injury that would take them out of their regular competition. And no owner or general manager wants his players competing hard in an All-Star Game for the same reason.

It’s no one’s fault that the All-Star concept doesn’t work. It’s a byproduct of the evolution of the sports.

As pay has increased for players, it makes less sense for them to risk injury in games that don’t affect the standings. The NHL doesn’t want to cancel the event because it is still a major economic boon, and cities still want them for the same reason. Despite the lack of competition, fans still want to see these events.

The only way to make this game competitive again would be to mix in nationalism. It isn’t logical for players to risk injury in international tournaments, either, but players do because nationalistic pride takes charge of their thinking. That’s why owners are fearful of players going to the Olympics, and every player wants to go there.

If you wanted the All-Star Game to be a true competition, you could have NHL All-Stars face a Kontinental Hockey League All-Star team and a real game might break out. But that won’t happen.

That’s why no one should be outraged by Scott being voted in. The idea of fan balloting is allow the fans to pick the players they want.

They have said they want the 6-8 Scott, who has five goals, 11 points and 542 penalty minutes in 285 career games.

The chief complaint is Scott isn’t a true fan selection, that the campaign to get him elected started as an act of comedy because he seemed like the least likely person to be an All-Star.

So what? Who cares why it started? If fans believed this idea was fun enough to make it work for Scott, why shouldn’t we laud them for their successful campaign?

It’s not as if the NHL should have been surprised by fans finding a cause in the balloting process. Vancouver Canucks defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick nearly made it in 2006. Last season, Latvian fans worked overtime to successfully get their countryman, Zemgus Girgensons of the Buffalo Sabres, into the game.

I can’t wait to see who fans anoint as their candidate for next year’s All-Star Game. Maybe electing a unique player will become part of All-Star tradition.

I might feel differently if Scott was offended by this. But he appears to have decided to have fun with it. He said he is going to attend the game. Good for him.

Truth is, America loves an underdog. Maybe we should see it as fitting that a journeyman player finally is recognized. It would be better if the journeyman player were a sixth defenseman who played regularly, not a guy who has been a healthy scratch more than he has played.

But we can’t have everything. Maybe it’s enough that Scott’s presence will ensure that at least one All-Star will be overwhelmingly thrilled to be there.

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