NHL looking at ways to incorporate alligators into All-Star festivities

The 2023 NHL All-Star game is scheduled to take place in Florida, and the league is really thinking outside the box in terms of how it is going to mix in some local flare for the weekend's festivities. 

One idea that is being kicked around: Alligators. 

On Elliotte Friedman's 32 Thoughts Podcast this week, Steven Mayer, the NHL's chief content material officer, talked about league's plans for the game. Mayer said the league is looking to take over the Fort Lauderdale beaches with outdoor events, concerts, and festivities to build interest around the game. That was the jumping off point for the talk about alligators. 

“We’ve got a couple of extremely unique ideas,” said Mayer. “One is a work in progress, that if we pull it off, I think our fans will talk about it for a long time. It involves something that is very Florida, something that is that area, but not beach necessarily. How is that for a clue? And it involves an animal.”

After further questioning from the hosts, Mayer finally admitted that the league wants to incorporate alligators into the outdoor festivities. 

He did not offer any specifics, only to again emphasize this is all a work in progress. When Friedman suggest the idea of shooting pucks into the gators mouths, Mayer responded with "what if it was meat puck?"

It remains to be seen if the NHL can pull this off or what it will eventually look like, but that is one way to get some people talking about your All-Star weekend. 

The 2023 All-Star game weekend will take place February 3-4 and is being hosted by the Florida Panthers.