Marc-Andre Fleury gives up one of seven goals in the second period of the All-Star Game Sunday. — GETTY

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

COLUMBUS, Ohio —  It’s genuinely impossible to tell when Jonathan Toews, the Blackhawks’ superlative two-way center they call Captain Serious, is joking. He might be the one participant in this NHL All-Star weekend who, when asked if he was having fun, had to pause a moment to fully consider the concept.

So take this remark from Toews in that context when the topic arose of a fellow All-Star, the Predators’ all-everything defenseman, Shea Weber: “He shoots the puck so hard that what we tell our guys in Chicago is, if you have a chance to keep him from taking it, go for it. But once he’s all teed up … man, get out of the way.”

I’ll assume, given Toews’ default mode and that Weber blistered a puck at 108.5 mph in the Skills Competition here Saturday, that no humor was intended. Because, really, there’s nothing remotely funny about going prone in front of frozen vulcanized rubber at that velocity.

Someday, one of those things will kill someone.

And no, I’m absolutely not kidding.

Nor am I kidding when I say that, even setting safety aside, blocked shots are killing the game.

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Ryan Johansen strips off his Blue Jackets sweater Saturday to pay homage to national champ Ohio State. — GETTY

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

COLUMBUS, Ohio —  It’s immensely ironic that Gary Bettman orders a news-free moratorium to all 30 NHL teams over the All-Star Weekend, aimed at keeping all eyes on the event itself, then each year takes to a podium to generate all kinds of independent headlines on his own. But there he was again Saturday at Nationwide Arena, dishing out a plate of new outdoor games, potential expansion to Las Vegas and, for the main course, the rebirth of the World Cup of Hockey.

Yeah, I know: Who realized it was gone?

Well, now it’s back, even if few want it, few will watch it outside the host city Toronto — where hockey already courses through the veins — and the format will be fantastically nonsensical: The teams will be the United States, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, as well as two fictional entities, the North American YoungStars and Team Europe. Seriously. The former would combine Americans and Canadians, bitter rivals in this sport, because “some great players get left out of international tournaments,” per Bettman. And the European entry would be comprised of castoff countries such as Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Germany and Latvia.

Because that will go over well. And help grow the game globally.

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