"The commercials for this year's NHL All-Star Game in Ottawa show the actual Ottawa skyline, unlike those last year which used a composite of buildings elsewhere to depict a made-up Raleigh skyline.

The TV commercials were the final slap of indignity delivered by the league (and its television partners) in fulfilling its long-delayed promise to bring an All-Star Game to Raleigh. And given how successful that weekend was, one year ago, it's hard to imagine those same mistakes being made again.

The alacrity with which Raleigh hosted one of the sport's biggest events and the way fans here embraced it changed its reputation as a hockey market forever."