SAN JOSE, Calif. – The 2019 Honda All-Star Skills Competition brought out smiles to all. This lighthearted show of skills demonstrated the reason these players were selected to represent. The night’s event was attended by 16,722 fans at the SAP Center.
The events tested skills in skating, puck control, goal tending and passing accuracies.
The first event, Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater™, tested the skaters speed on the ice. Each skater was timed for a full lap around the rink, with the fastest time resulting in a winner. Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers), defended his crown, with a third straight win in this event, with 13.378 for his time. The other skaters in this event were, Cam Atkinson, (Columbus Blue Jackets), Mathew Barzal, (New York Islanders), Kendall Coyne, (U.S. Women’s National Team), Jack Eichel, (Buffalo Sabres), Miro Heiskanen, (Dallas Stars), Clayton Keller, (Arizona Coyotes), and Elias Pettersson, (Vancouver Canucks).
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers, flies around the rink, Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater – Photo by Jack Lima
Kendall Coyne, U.S. Women’s National Team – Photo by Jack Lima
The next event, Gatorade NHL Puck Control™, featured a timed, single-round event that included three skills: 1) stickhandling, where the skater controls the puck through a series of ten pucks in a straight line; 2) cone control, where a skater controls the puck through a series of eight cones in a zig-zag formation; and 3) gates, where a skater approaches each gate and is required to shoot or otherwise guild the puck through the lit rung of the gate. Each skill had to be completed before moving onto the next one. Johnny Gaudreau, of the Calgary Flames demonstrated the best control, with a 27.045 time. Other skaters included, Claude Giroux, (Philadelphia Flyers), Patrick Kane, (Chicago Blackhawks), Gabriel Landeskog, (Colorado Avalanche), Elias Pettersson, (Vancouver Canucks), Mark Scheifele, (Winnipeg Jets), Jeff Skinner, (Buffalo Sabres), and John Tavares, (Toronto Maple Leafs).
Johnny Gaudreau Calgary Flames, winner of the Gatorade NHL Puck Control – Photo by Jack Lima
Johnny Gaudreau Calgary Flames – Photo by Jack Lima
The goaltenders got to test their skills in the net in this next event, Ticketmaster NHL Save Streak™. Each goalie did what they do best, block the one-on-one shot. The event only counted saves that were consecutive. Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers had 12 saves for the win. The other goaltenders in the event included, Devan Dubnyk, (Minnesota Wild), Marc-Andre Fleury, (Vegas Golden Knights), John Gibson, (Anaheim Ducks), Braden Holtby, (Washington Capitals), Jimmy Howard, (Detroit Red Wings), Pekka Rinne, (Nashville Predators), and Andrei Vasilevskiy, (Tampa Bay Lightning).
Henrik Lundqvist stops a shot by David Pastrnak. Lundqvist named winner of the Ticketmaster NHL Save Streak – Photo by Jack Lima
Skaters next participated in the test of passing accuracy, in the Enterprise NHL Premier Passer™. Brianna Decker, U.S. Women’s National Team, demonstrated the event, making it look easy. This event featured three skills over one round, including a Breakout Pass, mini Nets and Target Passing. In Breakout Pass, each player was given 10 pucks to attempt to make a pass to three “players”. In Mini Nets, each player had to complete a pass over a barricade into each of four mini nets. And lastly, they had to pass a puck from the blue line towards targets that randomly lit up every three seconds. Edmonton Oilers, Leon Draisaitl had the best time for the event. Other participants included Sebastian Aho, (Carolina Hurricanes), Thomas Chabot, (Ottawa Senators), Roman Josi, (Nashville Predators), Erik Karlsson, (San Jose Sharks), Ryan O’Reilly, (St. Louis Blues), Mikko Rantanen, (Colorado Avalanche), and Keith Yandle, (Florida Panthers).
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers, winner of the Enterprise NHL Premier Passer – Photo by Jack Lima
The SAP NHL Hardest Shot™ tested player’s ability to shoot the puck to the net. This skill was measured in MPH. John Carlson of the Washington Capitals was named the winner with 102.8. Other participants included, Brent Burns, (San Jose Sharks), Seth Jones, (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Steven Stamkos, (Tampa Bay Lightning).
John Carlson, Washington Capitals, winner of the SAP NHL Hardest Shot – Photo by Jack Lima
The final event of the night was the Honda NHL Accuracy Shooting™. This event saw the players shoot the puck towards the net with five LED targets that were randomly lit up. The player to hit five lit targets the fastest was named the winner of the event. David Pasternak, of the Boston Bruins was the winner of this final event. The other players that participated included, Drew Doughty, (Los Angeles Kings), Nikita Kucherov, (Tampa Bay Lightning), Kris Letang, (Pittsburgh Penguins), Auston Matthews, (Toronto Maple Leafs), Kyle Palmieri, (New Jersey Devils), Joe Pavelski, (San Jose Sharks), and Blake Wheeler, (Winnipeg Jets).
David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins, winner of the Honda NHL Accuracy Shooting – Photo by Jack Lima
San Jose fans were thrilled to see Auston Matthews change out his sweater for a Patrick Marleau one that he had on underneath before stepping up to start his accuracy shooting. Following the event, he and the Sharks All-Stars posed for a photo on the ice.
Philadelphia Flyers Mascot Gritty – Photo by Jack Lima
Winners for each of the Skills events took home a $25,000 check in addition to bragging rights.
Pacific Division All-Star take the ice – Photo by Jack Lima
Atlantic Division All-Stars take the ice – Photo by Jack Lima
Prior to the event, the players walked the red carpet waving to fans and posing for photos.
Brent Burns, his son Jagger Burns, Erik Karlsson, Nate Pavelski, and dad Joe Pavelski – Photo by Jack Lima
Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers – photo by Jack Lima
Marc-Andre Fleury of the Las Vegas Golden Knights – Photo by Jack Lima
John Tavares – Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs) – Photo by Jack Lima
Jack Eichel – Jeff Skinner (Buffalo Sabres) – Photo by Jack Lima
The 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend ends Saturday with the game. This is the fourth straight season, the 2019 Honda NHL® All-Star Game will feature a three-game tournament, played in a 3-on-3 format, showcasing teams from each NHL division competing for a $1 million winner-take-all prize pool.
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