Colorado Avalanche fans along with the entire NHL fandom are disappointed with the league’s choice in All Star Game entertainment.
The Colorado Avalanche are sending one representative the the NHL All Star Team this year, center Nathan MacKinnon. Each team has at least one player representing.
Even the prospect of seeing their players on a lineup with superstars might not be enough for some hockey fans to actually watch the All Star Game this year, at least not from start to finish. The NHL announced its headlining entertainment today, and the headliner left many fans seriously underwhelmed:
The 2018 @Honda #NHLAllStar Game will feature @KidRock as the headlining entertainment! pic.twitter.com/rhwYqjr4Em
— NHL (@NHL) January 17, 2018
Many fans feel Kid Rock’s best days are behind him — well behind him. He really hasn’t been relevant on the music scene since 2009, when he won awards such as the People’s Choice, Echo, and CMT Awards as well as a Grammy.
Here are some of the tweets in response to the news in that vein:
Did the NHL get turned down by 10,000 more prominent musicians of was Kid Rock a first choice? Either way, amazing.
— Travis Yost (@travisyost) January 16, 2018
I guess 20 years after the NHL asked him to play the All-Star Game, Kid Rock finally accepted and they felt bad telling him they were no longer interested.
— Luke DeCock (@LukeDeCock) January 17, 2018
I am often impressed at the NHL’s ability to find someone literally no one would ever want or ask for.
— Anna Claps (@annaclaps_) January 17, 2018
artists the nhl could have booked for all star weekend instead of kid rock:
— 🪴 (@goalietandem) January 17, 2018
- literally any elvis impersonator
- the jonas brothers
- the ghost of frank sinatra
- a roomba with an ipod attached to it
If you follow through the thread, you’ll see quite a few “Don’t want it” gifs as well as many vomit gifs.
This one was especially hockey relevant:
Hahahahahah the NHL is always worst place w this stuff
— Geoff Fienberg (@gfienberg17) January 17, 2018
One clever Tweeter posed an alternative entertainment act:
You couldn’t just give auston matthews a kazoo and have kessel play the spoons huh
— turtle kai (@stickpuckturtle) January 17, 2018
To be honest, I’d pay to see that one.
Many of the respondents on Twitter as well as Facebook remarked that the inclusion of Kid Rock as the “headlining” entertainment meant they wouldn’t be watching the All Star Game.
Not everyone who responded did so because they feel Kid Rock is washed up. Kid Rock has had political aspirations, alluding that he might run for senate with his domain, literally kidrockforsenate.com. He’s also aligned himself with the Trump administration:
Kid Rock wears a flag as a poncho but @realDonaldTrump welcomes him with the honor of a White House dinner. #hypocriteinchief pic.twitter.com/dJMq7PagFD
— Debbi Hartman 🟦 (@Debhartman) September 26, 2017
Some people cited that as their reason for being dismayed at the NHL’s choice, especially so fast on the heels of Trump calling African nations “shithole countries”:
Kid Rock, noted racist, performs at event in which one of the teams is captained by the NHL's only ever minority superstar, who gets pelted with racist tweets every time he wins a playoff series.
— Zach (@ZWal93) January 17, 2018
Gee, why can't the NHL expand its viewership?
— Gillis J (@6thelementearth) January 17, 2018
Actually, you can go down a pretty good rabbit hole if your search for “Kid Rock, NHL on Twitter.” People didn’t spare themselves in reacting with full snark.
Personally, I’m not a fan of signing Kid Rock as the headlining entertainment for the All Star Game. He is not a current artist — this isn’t a Metallica situation, who’ve been rocking for 35 years. Kid Rock rocks in name only.
Plus, NHLers pride themselves on being as bland as a potato pudding. These are players in a league that won’t say anything bad about the weather (except San Jose Sharks players about Winnipeg — and they got fallout for that.) So such a controversial choice for the “headlining” entertainment really doesn’t seem to follow the NHL culture.
Next: MacKinnon and Makar Honored
Kid Rock will perform during the second intermission. The All Star Weekend is taking place in Tampa Bay this year at Amalie Arena on January 27 and 28.