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WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
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"I think he tried to score himself, instead of the puck."
-- World goalie Tommy Salo on Ray Whitney's second-period breakaway when he ran into Salo but failed to score.
"I told his brother, he should get half the car."
-- Coach Scotty Bowman on what he said to Valeri Bure after his brother, Pavel, won a truck with his MVP award.
"I will get plenty of rest when I retire."
-- Mike Richter on playing the All-Star Game during the dog days of the season.
"I hope we don't go four-on-four all the time. I'm a traditionalist. Five-on-five hockey is the way it should be played. Maybe with the kids, we could do it (four-on-four) because we need to find a way for them to be more creative."
-- Wayne Gretzky on the much-talked-about notion of going with four skaters per side all the time.
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Wayne Gretzky received the largest standing ovation of the day when the NHL raised a banner symbolizing the retirement of Gretzky's storied No. 99.
That was no surprise. But what was surprising was that when Gretzky dropped the ceremonial first puck, it wasn't onto the sticks of game captains Nicklas Lidstrom and Ray Bourque. It was Paul Kariya and Jaromir Jagr.
Why?
It seems that a major theme all weekend was the passing of the torch from Gretzky -- and the aging stars -- to the younger stars. Clearly, from the pond-hockey game introduction on ABC, to the ceremonial puck drop, this effort to highlight the young players is a definite league directive.
No Gary Bettman edict could erase the feeling all weekend that it was strange not having Gretzky on the ice.
"I think we miss him in the league, we miss him, the fans are missing him," Devils goalie Martin Brodeur said. "(But) I think it's time to move on. We have different stars who hopefully will
pick up and do what he did, but it's really hard to not notice that his
presence is not here."
Actually, it's hard not to notice that his presence is still everywhere.
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MELROSE'S ALL-STAR GAME HIGHLIGHTS
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The Bure brothers were the story. Pavel gets all the attention, but Val is having a great year for an overachieving team. To see the two brothers play the way they did was great. On the flip side, I wished the North American team would have played more physical. The way the game is designed, the World is going to win because no one picked up men. I would like to have seen the North American squad play a little truer to their natural style.
Melrose's Viewer's Guide
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Comings and goings at the All-Star Game
Ray Whitney, a late addition to the All-Star Game, got the thrill of scoring a goal at 17:08 of the second period when he popped the puck into what was pretty much an open net. "It was great, especially after missing that breakaway," he said. Earlier in the second, Whitney walked in all alone on World Team goalie Tommy Salo. He made one too many moves and fell into Salo while trying to bury the puck in the net. "I deked myself out on that one," he said. As Whitney got up, Salo gave him a good-natured pat on the back. Any other day, it may have been a shove.
People seemed to like the pond-skating scene between Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Gordie Howe. The Great One passing the puck to the likes of Eric Lindros, Paul Kariya, Pavel Bure and Jaromir Jagr was a not-so-subtle symbol. But what was subtle -- and secret -- was the location. The shoot took place on Friday. It was delayed for a bit because someone got word of the photo opportunity and floated a helicopter over the area. Where was it? "I really don't know," Gretzky said. "You're guess is as good as mine. We drove about an hour (and) 25 minutes from here. So your guess is as good as mine as to where it was. We just drove. I thought I was going to need my passport." These guys are hockey players, not actors. Supposedly, the outtakes were pretty amusing.
There were seven players from the Czech Republic on the victorious World Team. In the past, so much talk around the hockey world centered on Canada and Russia. But since the 1998 Olympics, that's all changed. "Back then, people only knew Jagr and Hasek," said Patrik Elias, one of the seven Czech All Stars. "Czech guys got a lot of heart, and we're using it."
It's common knowledge that Jagr's been banged up, and that's the reason he was hesitant to play this weekend. He felt comfortable with his decision to play, but said the Penguins should come first. "I'm happy I came here," he said. "I suppose I wanted to come here, but I care a lot about the Penguins. Right now, that's the most important thing for me: to be healthy and help the team win. ... But, all my injuries are getting better, so I decided to come here and have some fun." Jagr had a goal and an assist, despite his bad thumb.
Curtis Joseph received the loudest non-Gretzky ovation -- Mats Sundin was close behind -- but playing in front of a jazzed-up home crowd must have tested his nerves, and it showed early on as he let up three goals in the game's first 15 minutes. But he redeemed himself with some point-blank saves later in the period. And, when you look at the statistics (20 shots on goal), he played pretty well. But you could tell the crowd wanted him to do something special, like shut the World Team out. "Well, it was exciting that it was here in Toronto, where we (Joseph, Sundin and Dimitri Yushkevich) all play. That added a little bit of pressure, I think," said Joseph.
Quick hits and deep thoughts
It's pretty obvious that European players were allowed to "just play" more as kids. They play the All-Star pick-up style a lot more fluidly and make many more lateral and back-diagonal passes. It may not resemble the real NHL product, but the World side certainly has more creative potential on the ice. ... Brendan Shanahan and John LeClair both made fairly weak moves on second-period breakaways. They stopped skating and just shot the puck into the goalies. Whitney took a dive, but at least he tried something exciting. ... The game's first body check came at 16:30 of the second period. Who delivered it? No surprise it was Jeremy Roenick, who gave Yushkevich a good shove. Someone joked that he was the only guy who didn't get the memo on no hitting. ... Speaking of Roenick, he seemed like the most energized player on his team. He got to skate a little with ex-high school teammate Tony Amonte, the same guy Roenick violently slashed earlier in the season. ... Let's blame it on the NBA. Isn't it the league that started all the noise and lasers accompanying games? Maybe fans like it -- has anyone asked them -- but man, is it constant. ... After the game the World Team's locker room was a lot more crowded and smelled worse than that of the North Americans.
Brian A. Shactman is the NHL editor for ESPN.com.
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ALSO SEE
Coaches are part of the All-Star story
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