North America beats the World, 8-7

"You can't compare this to the Olympics or hope to get a thing out of it. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a lot of fun," said Keith Tkachuk.

"The Olympics will be so intense, so unbelievable," added Tkachuk, who'll be playing for the United States. "This was fun to hang around a lot of guys from a lot of different countries. But there will be no friendships when we get to Japan."

The World's Teemu Selanne had a hat trick and was selected the All-Star game MVP, commisioner Bettman presented Selanne with a giant key to a new spots utility vehicle at an on-ice ceremony after the game. It was the first time that a player from the losing team was voted the MVP.

"We're all in the same boat. We're foreigners here," Selanne said. "Europeans can bring a lot of good things in the league. I think North American players, they respect Europeans more and more."

Most players seemed to welcome the format change.

"It was a nice change," said Canadian Wayne Gretzky. "I thought it was a little more intense. After they made it 3-0, it really gave us a wake-up call and got us going. It ended up being a pretty exciting game."

All-Star games are always lame, no matter what sport, but the NHL's new system seems to be working a liitle better. Let's hope the league will stick to it.