Johnny Gaudreau will get a special surprise on the bench during the All Star game.

Controversial move at the All Star Game.

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Published 5 years ago
Johnny Gaudreau will get a special surprise on the bench during the All Star game.
Chris Szagola/CSM/Zuma

It appears that one young man will get a special surprise at the National Hockey League's All Star game although I must admit I'm not sure what the motivation behind this move is.

According to a breaking news report from Sportsnet's National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman the Pacific Division coach at the All Star game has a big surprise in store for one of the players he will be coaching. The coach of course is Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters and unsurprisingly the surprise he has in store is for one of his own players, Flames star forward Johnny Gaudreau. According to Friedman Peters has invited Guy Gaudreau, Guy being Johnny's father, onto the bench for the game which will be a 3 on 3 tournament.

This seems like a very unusual circumstance to be sure but according to Friedman Guy Gaudreau "knows his hockey" although whether or not that should be enough to warrant his inclusions at an NHL All Star Game when there are a number of coaches who could only dream of such an opportunity is debatable to be sure. I personally don't have any issue with Guy's inclusion behind the bench for what is, in the grand scheme of things, a rather meaningless game but there are definitely purists out there who will not be pleased with his inclusion.

The other issue here of course is that Peters is clearly going out of his way here to give special treatment to one of his own players when he is supposed to be representing the entire Pacific Division of the NHL. Again I personally take no issue with the decision from Peters here but I can certainly see why it could be viewed as favoritism and perhaps even a little unfair towards the other players who are participating in the All Star Game with their family members watching from the crowd like everyone else.

The response to the news has seemingly been largely negative with many mocking Gaudreau for needing his father on the bench while others have approached it from the angle I mentioned regarding more deserving coaches being passed over for such an honor. How do you feel about Guy Gaudreau's inclusion? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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