The Hockey Stop

Friday night the NHL officially took a radically different direction with their All-Star Game format by holding a Fantasy Draft in Raleigh, North Carolina, the site of Sunday's matchup between Team Staal and Team Lidstrom.

Overall I think the league did an excellent job with the draft. But there were some awkward moments and at times it did tow the line between respectable television and reality series cheese.

So here is the good and bad.

The Good

-- Seeing the stars in street clothes without their uniforms and equipment on and not in the usual locker room setting provided a different and positive perspective of the players.

-- Having the enthusiastic Caniacs (Carolina Hurricanes fans) and other fans right up near the stage was a great idea. And the reactions were positive. There were even chants of "Ovie! Ovie!" right before the Caps star was chosen No. 3 in the draft.

-- Toronto Maple Leaf Phil Kessel's good-natured reaction to being chosen last by Team Lidstrom. This was the most nerve-racking and awkward part of the festivities and Kessel handled it like a true gentleman. Kudos to Kessel for being a good sport. And the NHL seemed to have anticipated the awkwardness and hurt feelings of being chosen last, because they donated $20,000 to charity on behalf of Kessel and handed him the keys to a brand new car. I'm sure all the other players wished they had been the last chosen after seeing what Kessel got!

-- Splitting up the Sedin twins, Daniel and Henrik, was awesome to see. This of course is something that could never happen in the traditional East-West format because they both play on the Vancouver Canucks. It will be fun to see these two play against each other on Sunday.

The Bad

-- 'Canes Captain Eric Staal selecting his teammate, netminder Cam Ward, No. 1. I understand he wanted to please the hometown fans, but how can you not select Stamkos or Ovechkin first?

-- The TSN host interviewing the players on stage was just plain awkward. Next year cut the on-stage antics. The players didn't seem to like it and it came across really bad on TV. When Ovie was chosen after Stamkos the host said some ridiculous statement about Ovie's goal scoring being down this year and then asked Ovie to comment. It was really awkward.

-- Team Lidstrom and co-captain Patrick Kane picking his Blackhawks teammate Duncan Keith over Jonathan Toews. It was a real head scratcher. But what made it worse was Toews' reaction being interviewed and feigning being pissed off and then the camera showing a somewhat uneasy expression on Kane's face. Another awkward moment.

So the fantasy draft was a mixed bag. But it made for great entertainment. And that is really the point isn't it? Hopefully the game, which is being broadcast on Versus at 4 p.m. this Sunday, will be as exciting as the draft.