Brightening Up for Hollywood

The NHL All-Star weekend in Los Angeles is right around the corner, and with the announcement of the full rosters for each division, as well as what the teams will wear, it's time to examine each aspect.

Beginning with the uniforms, the idea that each division will get their own color scheme for the game was a major step up from last year, when there were just two uniform sets. Each uniform set is representative of the host Los Angeles Kings' color schemes over the years, with gold, purple, silver, and black all being represented. The stars around the waist mark the NHL Centennial, as there are ten around while the numbering takes its cues from the NHL All-Star logo for this year's event, as the design within the numbers mirrors that of the logo while the lettering resembles the famous HOLLYWOOD facade. Like last year's event, the NHL logo on the front has reflective elements. Where things do become a bit of a problem is the assigned uniforms, as the Atlantic will have the gold, the Metropolitan will have the white, the Central will have the purple, and the Pacific will have the black. The Central/Pacific matchup will especially be a potential issue, as it is purple and black, though the shoulders are different enough to possibly offset the problem.

As for rosters, the idea of every team having an all-star player will once again be at the firing line, as at least four teams truthfully didn't deserve to have a player representing them. Detroit (Frans Nielsen), Colorado (Nathan MacKinnon), Carolina (Justin Faulk), and Arizona (Mike Smith) would be fair game for this rule. As for those who should have been there and who should not have, one could make the case for Mark Schiefele being there, replacing Jonathan Toews in the Central. You could also make a case for Henrik Lundqvist being there, but it would be impossible to kick either Braden Holtby or Sergei Bobrovsky off. While Smith was a rather questionable pick, seeing as Oliver Ekman-Larsson would have been a better pick if they were going with a Coyote, presuming that Ekman-Larsson would have kicked Cam Fowler off, a case could be made for either Peter Budaj or Cam Talbot, with smart money being on Budaj, especially since he started in the AHL this season, but has kept the Kings within striking distance of a playoff spot in the absence of Jonathan Quick. It would have worked twice as much if there was a John Scott-like angle to be found.