All Star Talk

NHL hockey fans are waiting in anticipation of today’s announcement of the remaining NHL All Star Game players.

Fans already voted in the starters, the game will be played in Ottawa and the opening lineup reflects that as it is heavily loaded with hometown Ottawa Senators: Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson,Milan Michalek and Erik Karlsson.

There is much speculation about who else will make the team.

Also being named today will be the Young Guns teams, a collection of younger players who are hoping to become future All Stars.

Last but not least there will also be the famous NHL Skills Competition where players prove who has the hardest slap shot, the fastest skater and accurate shooter — among other contests.

The celebration of hockey is quickly approaching. The NHL All Star Game will be held on January 29 at Scotiabank Place in Kanata, Ontario.

Diehard NHL fans can still purchase 2012 NHL All Star Game tickets and see the best of the best perform against each other on the ice.

Fan balloting has ended and the results are in, the hometown Ottawa Senators fans will be well represented at the start of the 2012 NHL All Star Game as four Sens skaters have been voted into the starting lineup:

• RW Daniel Alfredsson
• C Jason Spezza
• LW Milan Michalek
• D Erik Karlsson

The All Star Game will take place January 29 game at Scotiabank Place in Kanata, Ontario - the home ice of the Ottawa Senators.

Karlsson, in the midst of the strongest season of his career and among the league leaders among defensemen scoring, was the top vote getter with 939,951.

Alfredsson is the long-standing captain of the Senators, he’s been an Ottawa Senator dating back to the 1995-96 season. Over his long career Alfredsson has eclipsed the 1,000 games played mark, has amassed over 1,000 points to date and as of this writing is a career + 135. His best season came in 2005-06 when he racked up 43 goals and 60 assists for 103 total points in 77 games.

The annual All Star Game is accompanied by the very popular and “fan-forward” skills competition. The entire weekend is a great celebration of the sport and to see it done in Canada, you will see it done right. The intensity and passion for the sport will pour out of everyone involved and in attendance.

Find 2012 NHL All Star Game tickets today and enjoy the game which showcases the best talent in the game today.

Hockey fans can sign up now for a free email alert when 2013 NHL Winter Classic tickets are available to order through SelectATicket.com.

Location for the 2013 game has yet to be officially announced but there is strong speculation throughout the hockey community that the game will be hosted by the Detroit Red Wings at either Comerica Park or “The Big House”, Michigan Stadium at the University of Michigan.

Not matter where it is, hockey fans have demonstrated beyond any doubt that they love the NHL Winter Classic and will come out to cheer on their heroes no matter what the temperatures may drop to!

The outdoor hockey game has become a huge success for the league and having attended the Winter Classic myself, I can say that they really do things right. There is a huge fan fest of sorts outside the stadium where you can collect several giveaway items from corporate sponsors and participate in some fun activities like hockey trivia, shooting foam pucks at a live goalie or posing for pictures in pre-set scenes and giant inflatable jerseys of the participating teams.

The Winter Classic is so much more than just a game and this year’s event in Philadelphia showed fans will turn out in droves to cheer on heroes of yesteryear as they had 45,000 fans for the alumni game between former Rangers and former Flyers.

The Winter Classic itself was a complete sell out with over 46,000 fans there to cheer on the Rangers and Flyers in a game New York won by a final score of 3-2.

So if the Winter Classic is in Detroit, Toronto, Washington or somewhere else entirely next season, sign up now and be among the first to know when 2013 Winter Classic tickets can be ordered.

The return of the NBA season is good news for fans in the Orlando area, they are relieved that the annual NBA All Star Game will be held at the Amway Center on February 26th. Plenty of tourism and money is expected to be driven by this event and losing out on it due to the NBA lockout would have been a hit to the local economy.

Canceling the season was not a good option for anyone involved. The players are already viewed as greedy, the owners are considered miserly and the fans would’ve been left without their favorite sport. More importantly and often overlooked are the people who work in the arenas and the front offices of the teams. These folks do not make millions of dollars, they need the league to be “on” in order to make a living. Without a league, these people are without a job so as fans we should be happy for these people that they’re not forced to look for work, all we would’ve missed was watching a game. They’d be out of a job!

But all is well for now as the teams are back and the games are on, not the least of which will be the 2012 NBA All Star Game. All Star Weekend is a great spectacle for the league, showing off the great talents in the game.

Find your 2012 NBA All Star Game tickets now and enjoy the warm weather of Florida as you see the best players in the league compete on the hardwood.

While I haven’t read any confirmation yet, the return of the NBA season following their lockout likely means the NBA All Star Game is back on!

Of all the all star games in professional sports, I think the NBA set the mold that the others try to follow. With the old 3 point contest and slam dunk contest being the first skills competition (at least as far as I can recall) they really set the tone that the other leagues have tried to capitalize on as well.

Baseball has the Home Run Derby, the NHL has the skills competition and have really ramped it up by having breakaways, fastest skater, hardest slapshot and target shooting among the many contests they compete in.

The 2012 NBA All Star Game is scheduled to be held in Orlando, Florida on Sunday February 25.

Fans of the NBA can celebrate the return of their sport and see the stars of the game compete in the highest scoring contest of the year as defense is only an afterthought in the annual NBA All Star Game.

Find 2012 NBA All Star Game tickets today and make your plans to be in beautiful, sunny Florida this coming February. Not far from Disney World, I am sure many NBA fans will expand this into a trip for the whole family and bring the kids to the amusement parks as well as the All Star festivities.

Baseball fans know there is no off-season. From free agency to trades to managers hiring and firing and other assorted rumors, there’s always something to talk about.

One of the off-season stories has been the steady stream of MLB All Star Game and Home Run Derby interest as fans are already making plans for next year’s Mid-Summer Classic in Kansas City.

For the first time in almost 40 years, KC will host the All Star Game. Fans in the Midwest take great pride in hosting national sporting events as much of the media focus is seemingly always on the teams along the coasts.

Just look at the game in St Louis a few years back, fans went nuts for that event! Ticket sales were brisk from the previous summer all the way up to the event weekend and this year is no different for Kansas City.

Do not wait too long and get yourself mired in escalating ticket prices as the event draws closer, order your 2012 MLB All Star Game tickets today and enjoy the game yourself or give it as an awesome gift to the huge baseball fan in your life — everybody knows at least one!

We are well on our way through this year’s NFL football season and it occurred to me that this season will see some new faces in the NFL Pro Bowl. Particularly at AFC quarterback.

Last season the three AFC quarterbacks were Peyton Manning, Phillip Rivers and Matt Cassel. Maybe there’s a Pro Bowl curse at that position as all three of them are having forgettable seasons at this point.

Peyton Manning has been physically unable to perform at all this season following off-season neck surgery. There’s still question as to whether he’ll ever return to play.

Phillip Rivers, last year’s Pro Bowl starting QB, is having a tough season in San Diego. Only nine games into the season, Rivers has already matched his career high for interceptions thrown in a season with 15 to date. Aside from the statistics, he has made some major mistakes at inopportune times for the Chargers, particularly that fumbled snap at the Chiefs’ 15 yard line with less than a minute remaining in the 4th Quarter. A game the Chargers should have easily won but lost due to that fumble.

On the other side of the coin, that fumble was one of the few things to go right for KC QB Matt Cassel this season, the third AFC Pro Bowl quarterback from the 2011 game.

Cassel suffered a rib injury early in the year, has completed just 59.5% of his passes, has thrown for only one more touchdown than interceptions and now has a hand injury that appears will end his season early.

When you look at it, it is shocking how far these three have fallen from the seasons they had last year.

But that is what makes the Pro Bowl such a fantastic event, especially when the league continues to hold the game in Hawaii.

Every year the game is different. Fans are not seeing the same old players marched out there year after year. There is variety in the rosters, and this year the AFC will have a totally new look with 3 new quarterbacks likely taking the field.

Who do you think will make it? Tom Brady, Ryan Fitzpatrick are my first two picks. My third pick would have been Matt Schaub but he is also injured so I am going to go with Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Whichever players reach the game, you know it is going to be a great time… you’ll be in Hawaii!

Find NFL Pro Bowl tickets and experience the difference of actually being there versus watching it from your chilly home on the mainland!

NHL hockey fans are able to vote for their favorite players to be in the 2012 NHL All Star Game. The game will be held on January 29 at Scotiabank Place in Kanata, Ontario (home of the Ottawa Senators).

Fans can vote on nhl.com, through their mobile devices and also through the NHL’s Facebook page.

One of the surprise teams in the NHL this year is the Dallas Stars and that is reflected by them having five players on the ballot. In the Eastern Conference the Pittsburgh Penguins have the most names on the ballot with six, which of course also means they lead the NHL in ballot nominees.

In the past allowing fans to write in votes has given the NHL some headaches as there have been grassroots online efforts to nominate players with less than all-star caliber resumes. We’ll see if fans get up to those shenanigans again. Often the hometown host team will lead the league in voting and push some of their players up the list so look for Ottawa Senators like Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Erik Karlsson to get more votes than usual.

Fans looking to attend the game are going to have a tough time finding tickets. The NHL controls the event and very few tickets ever make it out to the public, if any at all. After season ticket holders of the Senators get their crack at them, players and executives get theirs, every team gets a share then there is typically nothing left for public on sale.

There is hope though. Find 2012 NHL All Star Game tickets on sale and see this awesome once-a-year event live at Scotiabank Place.

With a 2-0 victory over FC Dallas last night, the New York Red Bulls have advanced in the MLS playoffs and will face the Los Angeles Galaxy next. The Western Conference Semifinals begin this Sunday, October 30th, at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, NJ.

The Red Bulls weathered a strong first half by FC Dallas and took control of the game with a goal in the 61st minute by Joel Lindpere and capped the victory with a 98th minute tally from Thierry Henry.

Demand for Sunday’s game is high as the LA Galaxy are one of the top teams in the league and Red Bull fans will want to come out to support their team at the 25,000 seat Red Bull Arena.

The Galaxy piled up 67 points in the regular season and are the team to beat in the MLS playoffs.

Game 2 of the two game series will be at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California on November 3rd.

The winner of the series will be determined by aggregate score, so if you’re going to win game 1, win it big. With this setup, teams will be looking to score as many goals as possible and that will surely make for exciting soccer.

NY Red Bulls playoff tickets are on sale now and with limited seating available, a sell out is expected.

The NHL season is just underway and that means All Star Game fans should start making plans for the 2012 NHL All Star Game.

The NHL All Star Game will be held on January 29, 2012 at the Scotiabank Place (formerly Corel Centre) in Kanata, Ontario.

Breaking from the traditional East vs West format last season and turning the All Star Game into a “fantasy draft” combining two super-teams, it is undetermined as of yet which format the NHL will be using this season. In any event, fans are sure to be entertained by the amazing skills these talented players have to show off!

Fans make their plans months in advance, do not miss out, find 2012 NHL All Star Game tickets today.