Comments / New

All-Star Skills Competition Format

For starters, here is the current All-Star roster.

Pacific Division

Johnny Gaudreau (L-13-Calgary)
Taylor Hall (L-4-Edmonton)
Joe Pavelski (C-8-San Jose)
Corey Perry (R-10-Anaheim)
John Scott (L*) – Captain
Daniel Sedin (L-22-Vancouver)
Brent Burns (D-88-San Jose)
Drew Doughty (D-8-Los Angeles)
Mark Giordano (D-5-Calgary)
John Gibson (G-36-Anaheim)
Jonathan Quick (G-32-Los Angeles)

*Scott has voted in as a representative of the Arizona Coyotes, but was traded to the Montreal Canadiens. He isn’t representing Montreal here, as he is still in the Pacific Division, not Atlantic, and since he is in the minors, isn’t considered to be representing a specific team.

Central Division

Jamie Benn (L-14-Dallas)
Matt Duchene (C-9-Colorado)
Patrick Kane (R-88-Chicago) – Captain
James Neal (R-18-Nashville) – Replacing Jonathan Toews
Tyler Seguin (C-91-Dallas)
Vladimir Tarasenko (R-91-St. Louis)
Dustin Byfuglien (D-33-Winnipeg)
Roman Josi (D-59-Nashville)
Shea Weber (D-6-Nashville)
Devan Dubnyk (G-40-Minnesota)
Pekka Rinne (G-35-Nashville)

Atlantic Division

Patrice Bergeron (C-37-Boston)
Jaromir Jagr (R-68-Florida) – Captain
Leo Komarov (L-47-Toronto)
Dylan Larkin (C-71-Detroit)
Ryan O’Reilly (C-90-Buffalo)
Steven Stamkos (C-91-Tampa Bay)
Aaron Ekblad (D-5-Florida)
Erik Karlsson (D-65-Ottawa)
PK Subban (D-76-Montreal)
Ben Bishop (G-30-Tampa Bay)
Roberto Luongo (G-1-Florida)

Metropolitan Division

Nicklas Backstrom (C-19-Washington
Claude Giroux (C-28-Philadelphia)
Evgeny Kuznetsov (C-92-Washington) – Replacing Alex Ovechkin
Evgeni Malkin (C-71-Pittsburgh)
Brandon Saad (L-20-Columbus)
John Tavares (C-91-NY Islanders) – Captain
Justin Faulk (D-27-Carolina)
Kris Letang (D-58-Pittsburgh)
Ryan McDonagh (D-27-NY Rangers)
Braden Holtby (G-70-Washington)
Cory Schneider (G-35-New Jersey)

Fastest Skater

There will be four skaters from each conference participating in this event. Each skater will skate a track going from centre ice to the end zone, turning outward and skating to the other end zone, and back across the centre ice line.. The fastest skater overall will then skate a single lap of the rink’s perimeter, a la the older format, to try and beat the 13.386 second record set in 1996 by then-Maple Leafs winger Mike Gartner. There are a total of six points available in this event, one point for each race winner, one for the fastest time overall, and one point for whoever manages to beat Gartner’s time in the bonus round. If there’s a tie for the fastest overall, the tied players all participate in the bonus round, both sides getting a point if the tied players are from opposite sides. If several players compete in the bonus round and beat Gartner’s record, I’d imagine only the fastest gets a point, there’s nothing that states what happens in this case.

Skaters

Dylan Larkin (C-71-Detroit)
Brandon Saad (L-20-Columbus)
Erik Karlsson (D-65-Ottawa)
Kris Letang (D-58-Pittsburgh)

Roman Josi (D-59-Nashville)
Matt Duchene (C-9-Colorado)
Taylor Hall (L-4-Edmonton)
Dustin Byfuglien (D-33-Winnipeg)

Breakaway Challenge

This event features participating players taking a single penalty shot against an opposing goalie. Each conference has three players participating, two each selected by the captains and one each selected via a Twitter vote. Each shooter will shoot against a goalie from the other conference. Rather than real NHL penalty shots, this event is all about style and showmanship. The objective is to get as many votes as possible. There is one point available in this event, going to the player with the highest percentage of votes.

Shooters

Brandon Saad (L-20-Columbus)
Evgeny Kuznetsov (C-92-Washington)
PK Subban (D-76-Montreal)

James Neal (R-18-Nashville)
Matt Duchene (C-9-Colorado)
Brent Burns (D-88-San Jose)

Goalies

Cory Schneider (G-35-New Jersey)

Jonathan Quick (G-32-Los Angeles)

Accuracy Shooting

For this challenge, each conference has four shooters, being fed passes from two additional skaters, trying to shoot out four targets, 15 inches in diameter, placed at each corner of the net. This is a head-to-head event, where each player from one conference will be paired against a player from the other conference, alternating between conferences after each shooter destroys his targets. There are five points available in this challenge, one going to the fastest player to hit all his targets in each matchup, and one going to the player destroys all the targets in the fewest shots overall.

Shooters

John Tavares (C-91-NY Islanders)
Patrice Bergeron (C-37-Boston)
Claude Giroux (C-28-Philadelphia)
Evgeni Malkin (C-71-Pittsburgh)

Patrick Kane (R-88-Chicago)
Joe Pavelski (C-8-San Jose)
Corey Perry (R-10-Anaheim)
Jamie Benn (L-14-Dallas)

Passers

Nicklas Backstrom (C-19-Washington)
Jaromir Jagr (R-68-Florida)

Drew Doughty (D-8-Los Angeles)
Vladimir Tarasenko (R-91-St. Louis)

Skills Challenge Relay

This is the biggest component of the All-Star Skills Competition, and arguably the centrepiece event. Each conference sends in two squads to play the relay, each consisting of seven skaters and one goalie. The first part of the relay consists of the one-timer challenge, with three skaters from each squad taking passes from a designated passer, with each scorer having to score from three different angles. The first squad for each conference is led off by right-handed one-timer participants, while the second is led off by left-handed one-timer shooters. After the one-timers, a player must pass the puck into mini-nets, followed by a pair of obstacle courses. One player does the puck control relay, skating with the puck while weaving through a series of pylons. Another player does the stick-handling relay, guiding a puck through a series of pucks. Finally, each squad’s designated goalie tries to score a goal from his net. There are three points available in this event, one for the winning squad of each heat, and the fastest squad overall getting their conference one point.

Right-handed squads
One-timer shooters

Aaron Ekblad (D-5-Florida)
Erik Karlsson (D-65-Ottawa)
Steven Stamkos (C-91-Tampa Bay)

Shea Weber (D-6-Nashville)
Drew Doughty (D-8-Los Angeles)
Corey Perry (R-10-Anaheim)

One-timer passers

Patrice Bergeron (C-37-Boston)

Taylor Hall (L-4-Edmonton)

Accuracy passing

Nicklas Backstrom (C-19-Washington)

Daniel Sedin (L-22-Vancouver)

Puck control relay

Justin Faulk (D-27-Carolina)

Johnny Gaudreau (L-13-Calgary)

Stickhandling

Claude Giroux (C-28-Philadelphia)

Patrick Kane (R-88-Chicago)

Goalie goals

Braden Holtby (G-70-Washington)

Pekka Rinne (G-35-Nashville)

Left-handed squads
One-timer shooters

Ryan McDonagh (D-27-NY Rangers)
Leo Komarov (L-47-Toronto)
Ryan O’Reilly (C-90-Buffalo)

Mark Giordano (D-5-Calgary)
James Neal (R-18-Nashville)
Vladimir Tarasenko (R-91-St. Louis)

One-timer passers

Jaromir Jagr (R-68-Florida)

Matt Duchene (C-9-Colorado)

Accuracy passing

Evgeny Kuznetsov (C-92-Washington)

Jamie Benn (L-14-Dallas)

Puck control relay

Kris Letang (D-58-Pittsburgh)

Roman Josi (D-59-Nashville)

Stickhandling

Dytan Larkin (C-71-Detroit)

Tyler Seguin (C-91-Dallas)

Goalie goals

Ben Bishop (G-30-Tampa Bay)

Devan Dubnyk (G-40-Minnesota)

**Handedness only refers to the one-timer shooters leading each squad.

Hardest Shot

While the Skills Challenge is the centrepiece of the Skills Competition based on its placement towards the centre and its sheer scale, the hardest shot is easily the marquee event of the night. In this challenge, four skaters from each conference fire at the net from 30 feet out, alternating conferences after each player, to see who can make the puck go the fastest. Each player is paired against one from the other conference. Each player gets two attempts, an attempt being nullified in the case of technical difficulties. There are five points available, one point going to the hardest shooter of each matchup, and one for the hardest overall.

Shooters

Aaron Ekblad (D-5-Florida)
Evgeni Malkin (C-71-Pittsburgh)
Steven Stamkos (C-91-Tampa Bay)
PK Subban (D-76-Montreal)

Dustin Byfuglien (D-33-Winnipeg)
Tyler Seguin (C-91-Dallas)
John Scott (L*)
Shea Weber (D-6-Nashville)

Shootout

This is the final event of the night, with all of the players, save for two goalies, participating. The players are divided into three rounds of shootouts. Each round has six skaters and one goalie per team. The event alternates between conferences after each shot. Each player gets 10 seconds to shoot. Each goal scored earns the scorer’s conference a point, unless they’re the first or third shooter in their conference’s lineup for the round, in which case they get a Discover Puck that’s worth two points per goal.

Round One
Shooters

Evgeni Malkin (C-71-Pittsburgh)
Jaromir Jagr (R-68-Florida)
PK Subban (D-76-Montreal)
Ryan O’Reilly (C-90-Buffalo)
Leo Komarov (L-47-Toronto)
Aaron Ekblad (D-5-Florida)

Patrick Kane (R-88-Chicago)
Matt Duchene (C-9-Colorado)
Brent Burns (D-88-San Jose)
Mark Giordano (D-5-Calgary)
Vladimir Tarasenko (R-91-St. Louis)
Daniel Sedin (L-22-Vancouver)

Goalies

Roberto Luongo (G-1-Florida)

Devan Dubnyk (G-40-Minnesota)

Round Two
Shooters

Patrice Bergeron (C-37-Boston)
Nicklas Backstrom (C-19-Washington)
Steven Stamkos (C-91-Tampa Bay)
Evgeny Kuznetsov (C-92-Washington)
Ryan McDonagh (D-27-NY Rangers)
Justin Faulk (D-27-Carolina)

Joe Pavelski (C-8-San Jose)
Taylor Hall (L-4-Edmonton)
Jamie Benn (L-14-Dallas)
James Neal (R-18-Nashville)
Johnny Gaudreau (L-13-Calgary)
Dustin Byfuglien (D-33-Winnipeg)

Goalies

Braden Holtby (G-70-Washington)

John Gibson (G-36-Anaheim)

Round Three

Shooters

Claude Giroux (C-28-Philadelphia)
Dylan Larkin (C-71-Detroit)
John Tavares (C-91-NY Islanders)
Kris Letang (D-58-Pittsburgh)
Erik Karlsson (D-65-Ottawa)
Brandon Saad (L-20-Columbus)

John Scott (L*)
Shea Weber (D-6-Nashville)
Tyler Seguin (C-91-Dallas)
Corey Perry (R-10-Anaheim)
Drew Doughty (D-8-Los Angeles)
Roman Josi (D-59-Nashville)

Goalies

Cory Schneider (G-35-New Jersey)

Pekka Rinne (G-35-Nashville)

This is the only event for Roberto Luongo and John Gibson, while Ben Bishop and Jonathan Quick aren’t participating in the event.

The NHL All-Star Skills Competition is at 6:00 PM Central Time on Sportsnet in Canada, TVA Sports in French, and NBCSN in the US.

Looking for an easy way to support Arctic Ice Hockey?
Use our Affiliate Link when shopping hockey merch this holiday season!

Talking Points