Most All-Stars dream of gold ... as in medal.(National Hockey League All-Star players)

You've probably heard the question when you were looking for a job: Do you have any experience? Well, as funny as it might sound, millionaire athletes get asked the same question.

Last weekend's All-Star Game in Denver gave players a chance to provide a positive response.

"It's like that credit card commercial: Do you know me?" Flyers second-year center Simon Gagne says with a laugh. "I may have only gotten into this game as a replacement (for injured San Jose center Vincent Damphousse), but I look at it as a chance to get my name out there.

"You know, the Olympic Games are just a year away, and if I can show people something on this stage, they might think about me when they sit down and pick the team for 2002."

"That sounds like me, too," says Canucks defenseman Ed Jovanovski, who also went to the All-Star Game as a replacement (for injured St. Louis defenseman Chris Pronger). "I remember watching Dominik Hasek stoning all five of the Canadian scorers in the shootout in the last Olympics. I was sitting on the edge of my seat squirming on every move as Canada tried to beat Hasek to get to the gold-medal game."

Jovanovski's not alone. NHL All-Stars have plenty of chances to show off their skills to hockey fans, but the Olympic audience is the missing link for commissioner Gary Bettman and the league's owners.

"The NHL is the most unappreciated league in professional sports, if only because not enough people watch us," Bettman says. "We have long felt that if we could get the casual fan to watch us, come out to the arena to see us, that we'd have them hooked because of all the action and speed you find in our game."