Alright, it had its moments.

Kucherov’s fake-whiff deke was ridiculous, and his teammates throwing their helmets on the ice for his hattrick afterwards was pretty hilarious. There were some nifty passing and skill plays.

I’m gonna start a whole new paragraph for the amazing offside goal review which might be the funniest things I’ve ever seen in an All-Star Game. First, that they did it in an ASG in the first place is hilarious. Second, the ref pausing and milking it for the drama and third, Karlsson’s reaction.

Then it had Jack Eichel borrowing Matthews’ celebrating ‘pointing’ after... that was good stuff.

Best of all, they brilliantly brought in legend Willie O’Ree which was... all kinds of amazing. Good on Tampa and/or the NHL for making it happen.

But in the end? Meh. It’s basically the same as the NBA all-star game where there’s all kinds of creative offense you’d never see in a real NHL game because in a real NHL game the other team is actually trying to play defense.

Can we get back to real hockey, please?

NO WE CAN’T BECAUSE HERE’S SOME ALL-STAR GAME LINKS!

5 Things I liked about the 2018 NHL All-Star Game | Katya too was pleasantly surprised thanks to setting her expectations lower than Buffalo or Ottawa or Montreal’s place in the standings.

Auston Matthews will not win the All-Star Selke | Katya shares Matthews’ positive contribution and a perfect illustration of how non-serious the players were about defense.

Skills Competition Recap: I regret signing up for this | Arvind suffered through the skills competition the day before so we didn’t have to.

Okay now we can get back to real hockey.

European Report: Someone completely different grabbed the scoring spotlight this week | by Katya

CWHL Recap: Furies extinguish Inferno 3-2 | by nafio

CWHL Recap: Furies sweep the Inferno 5-2 | also by nafio

A mid-season Toronto Marlies power ranking and review | by Steve Wheeler at The Athletic

Kasperi Kapanen deserves a full-time role with the Leafs | by Dylan Fremlin at TLN.

The Leafs have their first game back from the break on Wednesday, at home vs the Isles.

Happy Monday everyone!

What did you think of this year’s All-Yawn Game?

It was better than expected (only because I expected less than nothing)39
It was genuinely okay. Just okay.39
Willie O’Ree! But, Kid Rock.... But Willie O’Ree! But, Kid Rock... But Willie O’Ree!18
It was actually amazing! Oh hey can someone tell me where all these empty liquor bottles I woke up under came from?14