The problem with the Breakaway Challenge

For the inaugural Breakaway Challenge at this year’s NHL All-Star Game skills competition, the league had high hopes for its dipsy-doodling superstars.

A best-case scenario last night in Atlanta would have seen Alexander Ovechkin, Ryan Getzlaf, or Pavel Datsyuk deliver a moment of individual brilliance that would have topped Vince Carter leaping over that French guy at the 2000 Olympic basketball tournament. It would have blown away Doug Flutie’s 1984 Hail Mary pass that lifted Boston College to a 47-45 victory over Miami in the Orange Bowl. It would have topped sportscasts across North America, even eclipsing Sidney Crosby’s game-winning shootout goal versus Buffalo at the outdoor Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.

But it didn’t happen. The best we got was Ovechkin gamely juggling the puck on his stick and then demonstrating he hadn’t played much baseball during his misspent youth in Russia.

So why didn’t we see any truly crazy moves that actually led to goals?

Some have suggested it’s the innate modesty of NHLers that makes it difficult for them to fully embrace this format.

Nah.

It’s more like, when do you set aside time to practice these kinds of moves?

The first goal of the Breakaway Challenge came from a nifty set of dekes by Datsyuk, and normally the 29-year-old Russian would have been hailed with Play of the Night honors for what he pulled off—if it was a regular shootout.

That’s what players put their energies toward practicing. There are real rewards for pulling off something that works when points are on the line.

But can you imagine the kind of flak Ovechkin would have gotten if he’d attempted his puck-up-in-the-air stunt and missed in a must-win game, say, versus Carolina on April 1?

If Marek Malik had tripped instead scoring when he pulled his famous between-the-legs move versus Washington on November 26, 2005, his career as a New York Ranger might have come to a standstill a lot longer ago (as it appears to have done now after his behind-the-scenes snub of head coach Tom Renney).

Also, let’s not forget that unlike the NBA’s slam-dunk competition, NHL snipers have to confront a goalie here, not a wide-open scoring target like a basketball hoop.

The idea is great, but the players will need more time and incentive to come up with jaw-dropping moves if the Breakaway Challenge is to become an All-Star Game fixture.