The 2020 NHL All-Star festivities are set to kick off. Friday brings the first slate of on-ice events, as the game’s best danglers, snipers, skaters and puck-stoppers will take to the Enterprise Center sheet for the newest iteration of the Skills Competition.
This year’s version comes with a few twists.
The first: a chance to see the top Canadian and American women’s hockey players in the game facing off in a 3-on-3 matchup. The other: a new trick-shot event dubbed Shooting Stars (more on that below).
Aside from those, four familiar events will return to the fold: Fastest Skater, Save Streak, Accuracy Shooting, and Hardest Shot. The winner of each of the six skills events will be awarded $30,000 for their efforts.
Let’s take a closer look at what’s in store for each event, and who will be competing for the crown.
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ELITE WOMEN’S 3-ON-3
Two teams — the American All-Stars and the Canadian All-Stars — each comprised of nine skaters and one goalie, will go head-to-head in the Elite Women’s 3-on-3 match. The game will consist of two 10-minute periods, and teams will switch ends after the first period. All penalties will be served via a penalty shot awarded to the player specifically fouled.
Here’s a look at the two rosters set to face off:
Canadian All-Stars (hometown):
• Meghan Agosta (Ruthven, Ont.)
• Mélodie Daoust (Valleyfield, Que.)
• Ann-Renée Desbiens (La Malbaie, Que.)
• Renata Fast (Burlington, Ont.)
• Laura Fortino (Hamilton, Ont.)
• Rebecca Johnston (Sudbury, Ont.)
• Sarah Nurse (Hamilton, Ont.)
• Marie-Philip Poulin (Beauceville, Que.)
• Natalie Spooner (Scarborough, Ont.)
• Blayre Turnbull (Stellarton, N.S.)
American All-Stars (hometown):
• Kacey Bellamy (Westfield, Mass.)
• Alex Carpenter (North Reading, Mass.)
• Kendall Coyne Schofield (Palos Heights, Ill.)
• Brianna Decker (Dousman, Wis.)
• Amanda Kessel (Madison, Wis.)
• Hilary Knight (Sun Valley, Idaho)
• Jocelyn Lamoureux-Davidson (Grand Forks, N.D.)
• Annie Pankowski (Laguna Hills, Calif.)
• Alex Rigsby Cavallini (Delafield, Wis.)
• Lee Stecklein (Roseville, Minn.)
GATORADE NHL SHOOTING STARS
Ten players — eight NHL All-Stars, one American Elite Women’s All-Star team member and one Canadian Elite Women’s All-Star team member (the latter two selected by social media vote) — will compete in the inaugural Shooting Stars event. Players will be positioned on an elevated platform behind the goal, approximately 30 feet above the ice surface, where they will shoot pucks at a variety of targets located on the ice, with each target possessing different point values. One at a time, each player will attempt seven shots and earn points for each target hit.
The ground rules:
• Pucks that do not hit a target will earn no points.
• Pucks that bounce, deflect, or ricochet onto/into a target will be counted for the highest scoring value they hit.
• A puck that hits the face of a target then falls into the centre will be scored as if it went directly into the centre.
• A puck that hits the centre and bounces out will be scored the point value of the centre.
• A puck that bounces off the ice then up onto/into a target will be awarded the corresponding value.
• A puck that hits the base of the target will not be awarded any points.
• Players are allowed to hit the same target multiple times.
All scoring denominations will be decided by the on-ice officials. If at the completion of the event there is a tie for the highest score, players will shoot three more pucks each to determine a winner. If the players remain tied after the three pucks, a sudden death “score-off” will occur.
Participants:
• Canadian Women’s Elite All-Star — TBD
• American Women’s Elite All-Star — TBD
• David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins
• Matthew Tkachuk, Calgary Flames
• Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
• Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars
• Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senators
• Ryan O’Reilly, St. Louis Blues
• David Perron, St. Louis Blues
• Mitch Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs
BRIDGESTONE NHL FASTEST SKATER
Eight players will compete in the Fastest Skater event, each timed for one full lap around the rink. The skaters may choose the direction of their lap and can be positioned up to three feet behind the start line on the penalty box side of the centre red line. They must start on the referee’s whistle and the timing clock will begin timing when the skater crosses the start line. (If there is a clock malfunction, the official time will be recorded by the referee’s stopwatch.)
The skater with the fastest time will claim the Fastest Skater event — if there is a tie for the top time, the tied players will skate one more lap to determine the true winner.
Participants:
• Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres
• Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
• Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
• Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders
• Chris Kreider, New York Rangers
• Anthony Duclair, Ottawa Senators
• Travis Konecny, Philadelphia Flyers
• Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks
BUD LIGHT NHL SAVE STREAK
At least four goalies and all 36 skaters will participate in the Save Streak event, a divisional shootout where goalies compete to make the most consecutive saves. Each goalie will face one opposing division and a minimum of nine scoring attempts, with each scoring attempt officiated in accordance with usual NHL shootout rules.
Players from each division will shoot in numerical order, lowest to highest, with the divisional captain shooting ninth. A goalie’s round at the cannot end with a save, so if the divisional captain’s shot is saved, the goalie will continue to face shooters until a goal is scored (following the same order of shooters).
The goalie with the longest consecutive save streak is the Save Streak champ. If there is a tie, the winning goalie will be determined by the total number of saves made in their round.
Bonus: If two or more goalies remain tied based on that total number of saves made, then the tied goalies will compete in a sudden death round of Goalie Goals.
Participants:
• David Rittich, Calgary Flames
• Tristan Jarry, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues
• Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning
• Frederik Andersen, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Jacob Markstrom, Vancouver Canucks
• Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
• Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
HONDA NHL ACCURACY SHOOTING
Eight players will take part in the Accuracy Shooting competition, a timed event wherein shooters positioned 25 feet from the goal line fire pucks at target images that appear on an LED screen placed on the goal line. Time will start at the referee’s whistle and each of the target images will disappear from the screen after being successfully hit — the clock stops when the player has successfully hit all target images.
The player that hits all target images in the fastest time will be crowned the winner of the event. If there is a tie for the fastest time, the tied players will compete again to determine the winner
Participants:
• Jaccob Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes
• Tyler Bertuzzi, Detroit Red Wings
• Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
• Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers
• Nico Hischier, New Jersey Devils
• Tomas Hertl, San Jose Sharks
• Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues
• Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets
ENTERPRISE NHL HARDEST SHOT
At least four players will compete in the Hardest Shot event, with each player attempting two shots measured in miles per hour, with the highest speed of their two shots recorded. For each attempt, a single puck is positioned on the ice 30 feet from the centre of the goal. Starting no further than the nearest blue line, the shooter may skate toward the puck and shoot it from its positioned spot into the goal. Shots must be on goal to be calculated, and all shots are recorded by radar in mph. If a puck enters the goal
uncalculated due to a malfunction of the radar equipment, the shooter will be allowed an additional attempt. If the player breaks his stick, he will be given another attempt.
The player who records the fastest speed is the winner. If there is a tie, the tied players will shoot again to determine the winner.
Participants:
• Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames
• Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets
• Shea Weber, Montreal Canadiens
• Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
• Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
• John Carlson, Washington Capitals
