John Tortora, the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the San Jose Sharks, attended the All-Star Game in Ottawa this past weekend. Here are his thoughts on the weekend.

THE EVENTS OF ALL-STAR WEEKEND

The National Hockey League hosted another very successful annual All-Star Weekend this past weekend in Ottawa. The obvious on-ice highlights of the weekend included the Fantasy Draft, the Skills Competition, and the All-Star Game. Beyond the on-ice events, however, All-Star Weekend also represented an opportunity for the League to conduct off-ice business with the Clubs and to thank its many business partners and sponsors for their on-going and loyal support.

One of the more high profile off-ice events was the NHL Board of Governors meeting. The BOG meets four times per year, usually during All-Star Weekend, then in June, September, and December. The BOG consists of about 100 executives from across the 30 NHL Clubs. Each Club is represented by a Governor (usually the owner) and two or more Alternate Governors. Kevin Compton (Governor) and Doug Wilson and I (Alternate Governors) represented the San Jose Sharks. Each Club is entitled to one board vote (usually belonging to the Governor) on League matters. As with any board, the primary purpose of the BOG is to provide direction to the League's executive management and to vote on certain agenda items.

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