Just hockey. In a city where hockey is much more than a pleasant way to kill time until baseball or football season starts, it often seems there is nothing but hockey.

"It is the mecca of hockey," said Philadelphia Flyers star Eric Lindros, a Toronto native.

Pick up any newspaper, and hockey dominates the sports pages. Turn on cable TV, and a hockey show is certain to be on some channel. Walk down the street, and it seems every other person is wearing a Maple Leafs ski cap or sweater, ballcap or jacket.

Jaromir Jagr, who initially wanted to skip Sunday afternoon's North America vs. the World game to heal from several injuries, began to understand how revered the sport is in Toronto when he arrived for Saturday's informal practice.

Popping his head out of a runway, the Pittsburgh Penguins' star saw the Air Canada Centre filled to the brim -- at 9 o'clock in the morning -- and said:

"I've never seen 18,000 people for practice. Never. They should play the game in Canada every year."

No doubt he would hear dissenters from cities such as Nashville, which paid $80 million for its franchise and wants a chance to entertain hockey's stars for a weekend, too.

But, in Carolina, they wish they get could 18,000 for a real game, much less a Saturday morning practice.

"Everybody and anybody is a hockey fan here," said Maple Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph, who will start Sunday for North America. "As a player, it makes everything you do matter."

Even in a game that nobody pretends is a reasonable facsimile of a regular-season contest.

No player wants to inflict an injury, or sustain one, so defense is played to a minimum and contact is casual, even friendly at times. Of course, that makes it exceedingly difficult on the goaltenders, who sometimes face as many uncontested shots and breakaways in one afternoon as they do in a month's worth of games.

Asked to predict the score, World team goaltender Roman Turek of St. Louis said, "15-14."

He was kidding. But not very much. The score was 16-6 in Montreal in 1993, the most goals ever scored by the winning team in any NHL game.

Since the Olympic-like North America vs. World format was instituted two years ago, the scores have been 8-7 and 8-6, with North America winning each time. Not exactly street hockey scores, but not real scores, either.

"Everybody's here to put on a show," New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur said.

Asked if the players now put a greater emphasis on winning to prove the North American style is superior to the European style, or vice versa, Anaheim's Teemu Selanne said, "It's more important just to be here. But winning is fun, too."

Of course, the biggest difference between the NHL All-Star game and those in the other major team sports is that regular-season teammates often play on opposing teams.

Mats Sundin of the Maple Leafs jokes he is working "on a special shot" that Toronto goaltender Joseph has never seen. And Turek might have to glove the hardest slap shot in the game, that of St. Louis teammate Al MacInnis.

"If I do what I always do, I won't hit the net," MacInnis said. "He'll be pretty safe in there."

Both teams have three goaltenders, each of whom will probably play a period. Turek will be followed by Olaf Kolzig of Washington and Tommy Salo of Edmonton, Joseph by Brodeur and Mike Richter of the New York Rangers.

With 25 players picked for each team, coaches Scotty Bowman of the World team and Pat Quinn of North America must scramble to get enough playing time for each.

Quinn wants players familiar with each other on every line, and will often play Philadelphia Flyers teammates John LeClair, Mark Recchi and Lindros together. Bowman plans to pair the Bure brothers, Pavel and Valeri.

"It's still a different game. It's not a real game," Pavel Bure of Florida said. "It's a big show."

And a big show in hockey wouldn't be complete without the now-retired Wayne Gretzky, who is missing from the All-Star lineup for the first time in nearly 20 years but he will help open ABC's telecast.

Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Gordie Howe are shown standing on a frozen pond, watching and admiring as present day stars Jagr, Lindros, Paul Kariya and Pavel Bure play a pickup game.

ABC's biggest challenge may be making the game that follows live up to the opening, taped Friday about 45 miles from Toronto.

"Maybe it's not a real game, but these are the best players in the world," Pavel Bure said. "That makes it special."