New York Rangers: The all-star game needs to return to MSG

The NHL all-star game solely exists to give the league exposure and bring players from smaller markets into the spotlight.  The NHL needs to do a better job of incorporating major markets into the event.

For all intents and purposes, in the modern context of media, all-star games are pointless. When every single fan is able to follow all 31 teams on a whim through a simple google search, the once idealistic message of, see the players you never get to see for one night play on a line with each other doesn’t have the same pizazz it once did.

The players would much rather have the week off entirely to rest and recover. Since the league transitioned to the 3 on 3 format back in 2015, a fraction of the players actually attend. This typically results in one or two players from every team trudging to a small market city to do media during the week, participate in the skills contest and the game itself.

While the all-stars do that, their teammates are avoiding the cold and running off to the Carribean, Florida or Europe for five days to recuperate. The grind of the NHL season is extremely challenging and something that requires proper management.

Now, the idea of an all-star game is something that is not going to go away. The small-market cities that host the event are dependent on the additional buzz that stems from it. There is a much larger conversation about the overall health of the league to be had, and part of it is tied to the struggle of small market organizations.

However, in the short term, the league needs to do its marquee franchises a favor. Instead of only new and small market teams, putting the event in a major city would give the players from smaller teams exposure within a major market.

The NBA hosted both halves of its all-star weekend in New York City several years ago and was able to sell out two different arenas and put on a show. The big apple last hosted the NHL all-star game back in 1994 when Mark Messier, Brian Leetch, Mike Richter and Adam Graves all represented the Rangers.

In a couple of years when the Rangers as a team are back in the discussion for a postseason birth, New York should be selected to host the event. As one of the league’s model franchises, the Rangers are an example to the rest of the league as to how an organization should operate.

For as bad an owner as James Dolan is of the New York Knicks, his Rangers operate quite well. He signs the checks and allows the front office to run the team as they best see fit. Unlike some of the other teams in the league that have uncertain futures in their current city, the Rangers always draw and attempt to compete.

Imagine it now, Henrik Lundqvist in the final year of his career gets to serve as New York’s ambassador for the 2021 all-star game at the world’s most famous arena under that fan-shaped roof as a send off.