Forget A Tale of Two Cities. This was a tale of three games, each of which managed to last just about a period or so but more than long enough to inflict damage on goaltending egos. There was Game PlanetUSA, Game Canada and an actual game; after the game there was even a soap opera.

The final damages included 11 All-Star records lying shattered in the dust. The new records included: most goals in a game (combined) - 21; most goals in a game (team) - Canada, 11; most shots in a game (combined) - 106; most shots in a game (team) - PlanetUSA, 60; most goals in a period (combined) - first period, 10; most goals in a period (team) - both teams, six; most shots in a period (combined) - first period, 41; most shots in a period (team) - PlanetUSA, first period, 24. Whew.

Oh yeah, Canada set a new record for consecutive (unanswered) goals - eight. Holy moly.

All in all, it just wasn't a game to be the goaltender, except during the third period when it dawned on both teams that perhaps they might actually win this game if they got down to basics and played a bit. This was far too late for PlanetUSA goaltender Brian Boucher, who was miked by ESPN2 and caught muttering, "At least I'll be on SportsCenter."

And interestingly enough, the two teams did a lot of teamwork offensively, with nearly every player getting at least one point but with no one getting more than three points or more than two goals. But first came the deluge.

Norm Maracle by Tricia McMillan

PlanetUSA opened up the game - oh boy, did they open it up. The international crew bombarded Canada goaltender Norm Maracle with 18 shots in the first eight minutes of the game, scoring three times. Had Maracle not been in surprisingly good form, the score could have been 9-0 PlanetUSA before the period was half over.

In fact, the PlanetUSA team needed three whole minutes before they scored on Maracle. Robert Dome picked a pass behind the net and threw it to the left post, where Matt Cullen

Zdeno Chara by Tricia McMillan

slapped it in. Just 58 seconds later, Maracle had seen 11 shots and another one had gone in, this time an all-Czech goal off the stick of the big fella, Zdeno Chara. Michal Handzus collected a keep-in from Vlastimil Kroupa and sent a perfect pass to the tape of Chara's stick: 'Z' banged it in off Maracle's shoulder. Two minutes later PlanetUSA had a three-on-one break and Craig Darby did the honors, flipping the puck over Maracle's glove hand. 3-0 PlanetUSA.

Canada finally got one back at 9:02; how they got it back is the question. Defenseman Jamie Heward was past the goal line and nearly behind the net when he half-heartedly shot the puck to the front of the net. Somehow the puck got caught between Petr Franek's blocking glove and the post and ricocheted in. Whatever. 3-1 PlanetUSA.

Matt Cullen by Tricia McMillan

It wasn't long before PlanetUSA re-established just who was in charge around here, as Matt Cullen stole the puck at the red line from Canada's Eric Charron (who flat out fell down for no particular reason) and Cullen deked Maracle for his second goal of the game. Less than a minute later, defenseman Barry Richter was parked in the right corner behind the net and tried to feed PlanetUSA's Bates Battaglia in front of the net, but the puck hit Maracle's skate and bounced in. The goal was credited to Battaglia. 5-1 PlanetUSA.

But Canada was finally starting to get into the game, in part because Pascal Trepanier was able to blast a blue-line bomb past Hershey teammate Franek at 13:37. Canada quickly followed that up with a four-on-one break, but the one for PlanetUSA was Chara, who broke up the play with a beautiful sliding pokecheck. It would be nearly the only defense seen all night. PlanetUSA 5-2.

Bates Battaglia by Tricia McMillan

Battaglia bagged his second goal of the night shortly afterwards, teaming up with Dome and Handzus for a triangular passing play that could've resulted in a goal for any of the three, but Handzus opted to dish it to Battaglia. Then Canada got it in gear, as Stacey Roest scored seconds later on a pass from behind the net, and the maple ones finished the period on a high note with a late goal, the second from Heward. Peter Zezel stole the puck behind the net and passed it to Daniel Briere, who was stopped by Franek. Heward was in perfect position to pop in the rebound. PlanetUSA 6-4 over Canada.

And so ended one of the most amazing periods seen in a hockey game...or was it another sport entirely? Ten goals, six by PlanetUSA; 24 shots from the world team plus the 17 managed by Canada. Records for shots by one and both teams; records for goals by one and both teams. A very ugly place for goalies.

Vaclav Varada by Tricia McMillan

The crowd certainly seemed to enjoy it. While pre-game crowd noise was limited to cheering wildly for hometowners Mark Wotton and Robert Dome and booing Craig Charron and Vaclav Varada, who were representing rivals Rochester, the first period offensive onslaught of PlanetUSA met with great approval. The "USA! USA!" chants were coming thick and furious throughout and continued much of the game.

As it turned out, that may have been the undoing for PlanetUSA. Because the nationalistic cheering planted an idea in the head of Canada head coach Bob Hartley, and he took advantage of the first intermission to do a little, ah, motivating of his team.

Bob Hartley by Tricia McMillan

"He told us, 'you guys are Canadians and it's a Canadian game with pride. You guys are basically embarrassing yourselves.' Gave us a kick in the ass," explained Canadian defenseman Stu Malgunas. "I think the U.S. bringing out Jim Craig and draping the flag over him inspired the boys on the other side for the first period. But we got it back."

Getting it back was an understatement. Canada's two goals to finish the first period were only the beginning of the end for PlanetUSA. Canada would commence the second period with six consecutive goals to turn the game completely around. And completely on the wrong end of things was PlanetUSA goalie Brian Boucher.

Boucher was kinda left out to dry. Defense? Are you kidding? Canada broke out of the gate with swift three-punch knockout and kept on going. Steve Guolla started the attack, taking a last moment pass from Daniel Briere while charging the net at 1:32. Just over a minute later, Boucher made a strong save on Eric Charron but lost control of the rebound, which landed on the tape of a wide-open Eric Houde for an empty-netter. All of 49 seconds later it was Houde again, taking a spin-o-rama pass from Stacey Roest in front of the net.

"Maybe when I used to play peewee, but professional, even in junior I don't remember scoring two goals that quick," Houde remarked later. 7-6 Canada.

Canada came back on Boucher three more times, fortunately in somewhat less bang-bang fashion but no less embarrassingly. Peter Zezel was the recipient of a perfect no-look pass from Craig Millar to the front of net and Boucher had no chance. Next up was Boucher's Phantoms teammate Shawn McCosh, who sent a shot to the top left corner which ticked off of Boucher's catching glove and kept right on going. Canada finished the carnage as 12:26 when Scott Fraser finished a textbook tic-tac-toe passing play with a shot right through the five hole. 10-6, Canada.

J.F. Labbe by Tricia McMillan

Now it was PlanetUSA's turn to try to salvage some face in the midst of disaster. Only 30 seconds after Fraser's goal, Handzus decided he had no shot from the front of the net and passed the puck to charging Vaclav Varada, who promptly fell flat on his face and ate ice chips. Somehow though, Varada got enough stick on the puck to put it past JF Labbe for the most spectacular goal of the night. Late in the period, Rich Brennan beat former teammate Labbe with a perfect wrist shot through the five hole. 10-8 Canada.

The second intermission served for a collective breath-catching for everyone. Besides the offensive display, there weren't any whistles. Referee Greg Kimmerly (who wore glasses for this game; apparently contact lenses are more the norm for him) didn't call a single penalty in the game and really there wasn't anything worth calling. However, of the dozen or so possible icing calls only two or three late in the game were called, and the puck only left the playing surface once or twice. Were it not for frequent offside infractions, the goals would have been the game's only stoppages.

When the third period began, something strange happened. Both teams decided to limit the firewagon hockey in favor of trying to win the game. Taking the momentum from the end of the second period, PlanetUSA struck first on Canada goalie Scott Langkow, as Vladimir Vorobiev took a couple of quick, dangerous shots that Langkow was able to stop. But Daniil Markov took a swipe at one rebound and while Langkow got his pads on the puck, he merely slowed it down as it bounced over the line. 10-9 Canada.

Jan Nemecek by Tricia McMillan

At the other end of the ice, Robb Stauber kept the game within reach with the best save of the game...maybe the best save of the season? A turnover by PlanetUSA allowed Canada to advance on Stauber four-on-one and Roest let loose a missile headed top shelf, but Stauber snagged it out of the air and held on. The Syracuse faithful rewarded him with bows and a few "we're not worthy" chants besides the cheering. PlanetUSA decided not to let a save like that go to waste and moments later they charged in on Langkow three-on-one, Jan Nemecek taking Josef Marha's pass at the last moment to tie the game up at 10:47. Ten all.

Ah, but not so fast guys. Canada promptly sent a rush the other direction and everybody took a shot at Stauber, who stopped at least three pucks before his stick was knocked out of his hands and he was knocked on his backside. With Stauber flat on his back and flailing to get back up, Peter Zezel was able to flip the puck in the general direction of the net and naturally it went in, returning the lead to Canada after just 42 seconds.

"We were just shooting it everywhere and the puck came back up to me," Zezel explained. "The goalie I'm sure didn't see it, I didn't even see the goalie." 11-10 Canada.

Scott Langkow by Tricia McMillan

The remaining eight and half minutes were the Scott Langkow show. While Stauber had a few more saves of his own to pull out of the hat - at least until he was pulled himself - Langkow repelled several shots including a minute's worth of extra attacker from PlanetUSA. The game would end 11-10, with Langkow the winning goaltender and Stauber an undeserved loser.

The post-game awards were accompanied by fireworks, literally. The PlanetUSA player of the game was Matt Cullen, in a tossup with Battaglia and Chara which he probably won due to actually getting his stick on both of his goals.

Matt Cullen by Tricia McMillan

"I was just trying to keep playing well," said Cullen, who was also on the receiving end of some hat trick passes.

It wasn't much easier to choose a Canadian player of the game, but Eric Houde was selected with a credit towards changing the game's momentum.

"I wasn't expecting to be here, I got lucky. It's been tremendous," said Houde, who was a late replacement for the injured Dane Jackson. "I just wanted to show everyone I have my place here and could be one of the best players in the AHL."

Two goals and three points seemed to be the magic numbers, as five players had two goals (Cullen, Battaglia, Heward, Houde and Zezel) and five had three points (Houde, Fraser, McCosh, Zezel and Michal Handzus). As Handzus was the only PlanetUSA player with three points - and the only player in AHL All-Star history to have three assists in one game - he was adjudged to be the Rookie of the game over the more heralded newcomers Daniel Briere, Marc Savard, and Brendan Morrison.

Goaltender of the game was the most debatable award of the evening: even the player who received it didn't think he deserved it. The award was given to JF Labbe, who really didn't do anything other than stand around and watch. He should've bought a ticket and he knew it, giving the award to Langkow after the game. (Personally, I thought it should've been Stauber's. But Langkow would have been a solid selection, as well.)

The easy award to give was the Game MVP - it went to Zezel, the man who wasn't supposed to be there. Zezel took the award for scoring the game-winning goal, and regardless of the goal's ugliness, getting it was more important to Zezel than anyone realized. After the game it was revealed why Zezel had been absent on Skills day...his two-year-old niece, Jilliann, had been diagnosed with lymphoblastoma, a form of cancer, and he had spent the day with her as his family prepared her for her first day of chemotherapy. Jilliann was diagnosed the same day Zezel was traded to Vancouver; he has written her name on all of his sticks and dedicated both his first game with the Canucks and the All-Star Game to her.

"My family's had quite a bit of a rough ride the last week finding out that she had cancer," said a weary Zezel. "It's affected the family quite a bit but there's a lot of hope and prayers for her and we have to go on. I'll keep her in my mind until she's better."

The news had an affect on the whole team; Labbe and Langkow agreed to donate the Goaltender prize money, $1,000, to Jilliann's treatment fund, and coach Bob Hartley, whose own niece has battled leukemia, let Zezel out of Skills day and offered to let him skip the game entirely. But Zezel was having none of that.

"The American Hockey League called me after the trade from Albany to Vancouver. They had called the River Rats, and then they called Vancouver, and Mike Keenan asked me if I'd like to play, and I said sure," explained Zezel. "You're quite honored any time you play in an All-Star Game, I was quite honored and happy to come down here and play in the All-Star game."

"It's great for the fans that they get to see some goals, see some offense and...it's good that we could play a good game for everybody," he continued. "It's very hard right now for not only myself but for my family and we've gone through a lot."

So have the All-Star goaltenders.

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