You're an All-Star - The Fans Speak Out

I enjoyed the article on the top 10 All-Star Games [April], but I have to point out one game that didn't make your list. The 1997 All-Star Game in San Jose was noteworthy for a couple of reasons. First of all, it was the rescheduled 1995 All-Star Game which had been cancelled because of the lockout, so us San Jose ticket-holders had to wait two more years to attend our home city's All-Star Game. Second of all, it was Mario Lemieux's final All-Star Game before he retired. We already knew at that time that he was talking openly about 1996-1997 being his last year. Knowing that made being at the game that much more meaningful. But the most striking moment was when the San Jose Sharks' Owen Nolan scored his third goal to complete his hat trick with a couple of minutes remaining in the third. He would have been named MVP in front of the hometown fans, but the voting had already been done and the Philadelphia Flyers' Mark Recchi won. What made Nolan's goal so remarkable was that he called his shot before scoring against the Buffalo Sabres' Dominik Hasek. Nolan had scored two goals eight seconds apart in the waning moments of the second period. Naturally, the San Jose fans were cheering wildly every time he touched the puck in the third. Archnemesis Theo Fleury, then of the Calgary Flames, was playing on Nolan's line, and was feeding him the puck every time he could. Nolan was stopped seven times by Hasek before getting the puck on a breakaway pass and pointing at Hasek before completing the hat trick. The San Jose Arena went wild after that display; we even had to cheer Fleury, as hard as that was to do.

Mark Miller
Hayward, Calif.

Mark, you're right, that is a good one. You'd think that after Nolan getting jobbed, the NHL would change its voting policies, but as you can read in this issue in the story "From Russia With Glove," Nikolai Khabibulin fell victim to the same fate this year. And being such a big Fleury fan, you won't want to miss our interview with the embattled winger in this issue. His recent fight with the San Jose mascot, "Sharkie," must have really endeared Fleury to you and your fellow Sharks fans.

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COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group