DALLAS - As Daniel Briere threw his gear into his bag
in the dressing room last night, Dany Heatley turned
to his old buddy and asked the all-star winger a
question.
"So, do you think you can get your whole family into
that truck?," said Heatley with a toothy grin. "Well,
you might have to use that one for a date night with
the wife."
While the fans flocked to the American Airlines Arena
to see Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin in their
first all-star game, it was Briere who took home the
keys to a 2007 Dodge Nitro as the MVP with five points
in the East's 12-9 loss to the West.
No, the East wasn't successful and Sidney Crosby was
held pointless, but this was a laughing matter as Joe
Sakic, Brian Rolston and Rick Nash all posted
four-point nights. Still, it wasn't enough to ruin the
goal and four assists by the 5-foot-10 Briere, who was
voted in as a starter by the fans.
"I just came here to enjoy my week. I never thought
I'd be leaving with a car," said Briere. "I don't
think it has sunk. I don't think I fully realize
what's going on. It's very exciting and I'm trying to
enjoy every minute of it. I watched a lot of all-star
games and I watched a lot of guys get MVP's. I feel
fortunate to just be here and I got a lot of help from
guys around me."
Traded for each other in the summer of 2005, Heatley
and Atlanta winger Marian Hossa played on a line
centred by Briere. Heatley and Briere are old friends
from playing for Team Canada at the world
championships and the trio combined for 11 points.
Sure, it seemed odd to have Heatley and Hossa
together, but they looked good.
"It was a lot of fun to be with these guys," said
Hossa, who sat beside Heatley in the dressing room.
"We had a good time and we were able to help our guy
win the truck. That's a lot of fun and he's going to
get a new set of wheels. Now, we go back to battling
for a playoff spot against each other."
Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff just thought they would make
a nice combination.
"I put them together because of the past history
between Heatley and Briere. They played together at
the world championships and in the past, so there was
some chemistry there," said Ruff. "But, this was a
special night for (Briere). He's a good player and a
strong player. He was able to get a lot of things done
out there."
Many were wondering why Crosby was held pointless and
Ovechkin only had one goal. They should have thrived
in this format, but West coach Randy Carlyle admitted
he tried to match centre Yanic Perreault up against
Crosby, Ovechkin and veteran Brendan Shanahan whenever
possible.
"I kind of said it as a bit of joke, but Perreault is
such a good faceoff man, you want to have him out
there in those types of situations. It really helps
when you can start off with the puck," said Carlyle.
"As for Crosby, I thought what showed here, is that in
a game like this, you were able to see some veteran
guys step up. Guys like Rolston, Nash and Perreault.
They did a good job and they were even trying to get
back for us."
Crosby laughed the fact he was pointless off.
"With 21 goals it would have been nice to get one,"
said Crosby. "But, it just wasn't meant to be. It was
a lot of fun out there."
