NHL All-Star Festivities

Like 2008, the NHL festivities over the All-Star weekend were pretty extraordinary. I love that I get to see this stuff. There were not big events on Thursday/Friday like the concerts we had last year. Instead, starting on Thursday and through the weekend, they had the "Jamboree". This was a tent set-up outside the Hockey Arena and had all kinds of interactive hockey games and activities. I went over one night and didn't think it was that great, but for anyone who is a big hockey fan, I’m sure it was a blast.

The street near the Jamboree was lined

with all the jerseys in blocks of ice

When I first saw this, I was afraid someone had made

a horrible mistake. Then, I realized LNH is NHL in French.

Gift Bag!! In addition to the new wardrobe, I also got a gift bag. We got a leather bag filled with all kinds of random stuff. Another hat, hockey cards, a puzzle, a toy motorcycle, a thermos, a key-chain, a set of playing cards, and a DVD.

Saturday night was the Super-Skills game. I like this competition better than the actual All-Star game. People compare it to the NBA Slam Dunk contest. It is basically an opportunity for the players to show off. It is so relaxed and fun! The players even had their kids on the bench with them – so cute!

In this game, each player has so many chances

to knock out all the McDonald's targets.

Mike Modano was so cute

talking to the other player's kids.

After Super-Skills was the big party of the weekend. I’ve been told that there were around 3,000 people there. It was held at a Movie Studio in Montreal where a TON of films have been made. It had the feel of an enormous warehouse, but was very well decorated. There were 3 rooms we had access to, each with a very different look and feel and each with a theme from a movie that was filmed there. The hallway that connected the 3 rooms was lined with posters from movies filmed there and on the floor were gold stars (like the Hollywood stars) with the All-Star players names on them. The first room we entered was themed after The Aviator. There was a HUGE airplane in the middle of the room that was from the movie set. There was live jazz music in there the entire night. The waitresses in that room were dressed to fit the era, some were walking around with cute little trays of candy. There was a shoe-shining station in this room and one lady I know got her shoes shined and said it was the best one she’d ever had because it was an awesome foot massage, too! This is the room that Schwartz’ Deli catered with their smoked meat sandwiches. There were also mini cupcakes that were quite yummy!

Schwartz' smoked meat sandwiches

The 2nd room was enormous and actually had 3 movie themes in it….The Mummy, Day After Tomorrow, and a third I can’t remember. This was the party room! It was LOUD, tons of people, tons of food tables, tons of alcohol bars, etc…. The Day After Tomorrow area was the coolest. All the waitresses were dressed in white mini-skirts and white tanks and wore white wigs. The bar was an ice bar – it was a huge, very long and tall bar made entirely from ice. There was a cover band in this room that sang any and everything – they were very good and fun all night long. I can’t remember what all we ate in this room…mostly little, fancy appetizers and these mini lemon tarts that were amazing. I definitely got my fill of red wine as well.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but there was a "wall" of
streaming water in the middle of the room. You could
stand on one side of and see the band through it.

The 3rd room was themed after Green Room. I have no idea what that movie is, but for our party, this room was set-up as if it was a dressing room on a movie set. They had people getting their hair and make-up done…you could even get your hair CUT! How crazy is that? They also had fun “bling” you could take and wear around the party. Even costumes you could try on! It was pretty interesting.

My new "fancy" ring

Last year, they had all the hockey players and other VIPs sectioned off, but they didn’t have that this year, so I saw lots of players walking around, although I couldn’t name any of them! It was a very fun night!

On Sunday, there was a pre-game celebration. I was only able to go for the tail-end of it as I was working in the Transportation Office during most of the party. I went over as soon as I could to check it out. It wasn’t super impressive. It was held in a very large banquet hall type room of the nearby train station. I’m sure it is a nice room, but it was very, very crowded. You could hardly move! There was also a big white tent located just off this room where a band had played, but it was very cold in there so people didn’t really stay in there for long. There was lots of food and drinks in the large room and in the tent. I didn’t eat much, but was very excited to try Poutine…a Quebec specialty. It is basically French fries topped with cheese curds and gravy. Sounds disgusting, right? It was actually very good! The cheese curds sort of scared me, but it actually tasted like good, quality cheese.

After the celebration, we were off to the All-Star game. I get bored during the game, so I only stayed until the start of the 3rd period….I didn’t want to miss the entertainment between the periods, but I could care less about the game! I just don’t know if I should cheer for the East or the West and when I don’t have someone to cheer for, I don’t care! I did get a hot dog at the game because this arena, Bell Centre, is known for their hot dogs. They are smaller and come on these really skinny, flat buns. It was pretty good!

They broke one of the panes of glass during

warm-up. It was pretty cool to see them remove

the braces and see the glass come shattering down.

Before the game started, there was a Cirque show that was pretty good. After the 1st period, a famous French pop star performed and then after the 2nd period, Simple Plan performed. It was all good and fun! I left as soon as the 3rd period started…I had a little bit more of Montreal to explore!

Cirque!

This violinst was pretty impressive as
she played while tumbling about in the air.
Simple Plan

All in all, it was a great week working and playing and staying in a hotel! I hope I get to go back next time, but it’s not for 2 years because next year our players will be going to the Olympics!! I REALLY wish I could go to the Olympics. Doesn’t sound like we’re really needed there, though, but if I find any way to get there, I’ll do whatever it takes! In 2 years, the All-Star game will be in Phoenix….a warm place like that would be a huge welcome in January!!