The Metropolitan Division beat the Pacific Division 4-3 to claim the one million dollar prize in the final of the NHL’s 3-on-3 All-Star Game tournament on Sunday at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
In the opening games, the Metro team defeated Vincent Trocheck and the Atlantic Division by a 10-6 count while the Pacific clobbered the Central Division, who didn’t look like they were trying very hard, by a score of 10-3.
Trocheck represented the Florida Panthers quite well, scoring a goal and setting up three others. The Cats center and line-mate Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning, were the only Atlantic team skaters to record four points. Kucherov scored twice and added two helpers.
The Atlantic Division won Saturday night’s skills competition and Wayne Simmonds was named the All-Star Game MVP. Simmons’ game-winning goal was his third tally of the two mini-games.
Wayne Gretzky showed he was still had a little of “The Great One” magic. Gretzky, who was filling in for John Tortorella as the coach of the winning squad successfully challenged a goal that would have given the Pacific side a 4-2 lead, sparking his team to a comeback.
Over the weekend’s festivities celebrating the league’s centennial, Panthers winger Jaromir Jagr was named as one of the NHL’s 100 greatest players. Others with ties to the Florida organization also received that honor: current color man Denis Potvin, former Cats Pavel Bure and Joe Nieuwendyk, and original general Bobby Clarke.