SAN JOSE — The NHL All Star Game is usually about as compelling as watching a game of bingo at a retirement home.
Like the Pro Bowl, hockey’s mid-winter showcase lacks physicality, emotion, competition. Without anything tangible on the line, it ends up being a glorified game of pond hockey with the NHL’s top superstars transforming into hockey’s version of the Harlem Globetrotters, a dizzying display of trick plays and tic-tac-toe goals without a sliver of defense.
But when San Jose last hosted the event, in 1997, Sharks fans saw one of the most memorable games in all star history.