Sunrise, FL – In the midst of a regular season featuring over 1,300 games and all of the little things which go into team success, there are the individual skills which make-up the results which fill the standings with wins and losses, accumulated point totals, goal differentials and positioning among teams. It is the individual efforts which drive those results and they were on full display at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida where the NHL’s most talented showcased their abilities.
The night got off with a bang with the Fastest Skater Competition, where the top two skaters advance to the final round, later in the evening. It is a popular, leading skill test designed to set the tone combining the delicate balance of speed and risk. The first skater demonstrated that.
Colorado’s Cale Makar started things off, choosing to skate counter clockwise, an option given to all entrants. As expected, he started strong. But coming out of the third turn and gliding into the blue paint, he lost an edge, sliding dangerously into the corner.
Helmetless, like all players in these competitions, he nearly slammed his noggin on the dasher boards, just getting a skate blade underneath him before sheepishly completing the lap at 22.3 seconds. That time just barely beat P.K. Subban who demonstrated the event for fans before the competition’s start.
Los Angeles’ Kevin Fiala was next, choosing to skate his lap clockwise. He finished a solid 13.99 seconds. Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov was next, besting Fiala by 0.24 seconds to take the lead. The competition rounded out with Vegas’ Chandler Stevenson and Detroit’s Dylan Larkin, finishing at 14.19 and 14.55 respectively. Svechnikov and Fiala would meet later in the evening for the title.
Next was the first of four Breakaway Challenges, sprinkled into the activities throughout the night. The challenge is for participating players to generate a creative skit designed to curry favor with celebrity judges, not one of them I had ever heard of before in my life (and I doubt you have either).
First up was Toronto’s Mitch Marner, who stepped onto the ice surface on skates dressed in all white with shades, just like Miami Vice’s Don Johnson, very clever. He proceeded to advance toward the net to score on recently HOF minted goaltender and local fan favorite Roberto Luongo. The effort generated a score of 21 points out of a possible 40.
Next was the first of three new events to the Skills Competition, the Tendy Challenge. In this event, goaltenders within their division are paired with one designated to defend the night in this multi-faceted competition while the other was designated “the shooter”. Only the goalie tandem can earn points. The skating shooters cannot earn points in this contest.
Opposing players, which included womens’ hockey players Alex Carpenter, Hilary Knight, Emily Clark, Rebecca Johnston, Sarah Nurse, started the play by shooting the puck along the side boards. The dumped in puck was collected inside the trapezoid by the “goalie shooter”. The shooting goalie then shot the puck down the ice to the opposite end goal, entirely defended by a board covering the 24 square foot opening, except for the two-foot wide by two-inch high entry point centered and along the ice.
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A shot where the puck entered the small space and into the neat earned 3 points, a shot on goal hitting the board 2 points and a shot missing the goal entirely earned 0 points. The best tandem score would be the winner.
Subsequently, upon earning 3 points for shooting a puck which entered the goal, the defending goalie would face a three-on-zero shooting opportunity of their own. Upon shooting a puck which hits the board at the opposite end of the ice, the defending goalie would then face a two-on-zero. Upon a shooter missing the goal entirely, the defending goalie would face a one-on-zero. A defending goalie save earns 3, 2 or 1 point respectively, based on the shooters faced.
The Western Conference goalie tandems went first.
The Pacific Division was represented by Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner who were matched against the Central Division, represented by Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck and Nashville’s Juuse Saros.
Stuart Skinner scored a goal (on his third attempt) and Juuse Saros (on his fourth attempt), each earning three points. Each also hit the board protecting the net, earning 2 points, Skinner on his first attempt while Saros converted on his fifth attempt. Both goaltenders earned 5 points.
The difference was in the defense where Hellebuyck earned 8 points to Thompson’s 6, giving the Central a 13 to 11 edge.
Next it was the Eastern Conference’s turn. The Metropolitan Division was represented by New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin who defended the goal while cross-town rival Ilya Sorokin was designated as the shooter. They competed against the Atlantic Division, represented by Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy and Boston’s Linus Ullmark.
Not known for his puck handling ability, Sorokin succumbed to Ullmark 4 to 0. Shesterkin defeated Vasilevskiy 6 to 5, but it was not enough to defeat the Central Division’s Hellebuyck and Saros in the Tendy Tandem Competition.
Next was another new skill competition, the Slap Shot, an outdoor competition on Ft. Lauderdale Beach, pre-recorded on Thursday afternoon and shown on the center-hanging scoreboard.
Eight shooters comprise four teams of two in this single-elimination tournament. Players compete head-to-head and required to hit all targets, colorful, upright surfboards with the four divisions and event logos on the top end with the NHL shield being the final target to hit. A successful strike by the shooter on that final target sends their opponent into the dunk tank. Which ever player dunks their opponent first wins.
In the preliminary round, it took New York Rangers teammates Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin 26.5 seconds to defeat brothers Matthew (Florida) and Brady Tkachuk Ottawa).
In the other preliminary round, it took Colorado teammates Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar 25.5 seconds to defeat their teammate, Nathan MacKinnon and his childhood friend, Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby.
The Final match-up would be shown later in the evening. More on that later.
Next up was Accuracy Shooting where ten shooters would fire pucks at four targets, fed to them while in the slot area in front of the net by two passers stationed in the corners, just behind the goal line. The quickest to hit all four targets would advance to the final round.
Edmonton’s Connor McDavid (4 for 4 in just 9.49 seconds), the New York Islanders’ Brock Nelson (4 for 5 in 12.12 seconds), the New York Rangers’ Artemi Panarin (also 4 for 5, but in 13.23 seconds) and Calgary’s Nazem Kadri (4 for 6 in 13.45 seconds) advanced.
Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov (18.14 seconds), Philadelphia’s Kevin Hayes (22.37 seconds), St. Louis’ Vladimir Tarasenko (25.06 seconds), Florida’s Aleksander Barkov (25.29), New Jersey’s Jack Hughes (32.32 seconds and Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl (36.95 seconds) rounded out the competition.
The Final round was held later in the evening.
Next was the second Breakaway Challenge, this by Boston’s David Pastrnak who performed a Happy Gilmore skit, complete with an old-school Bruins jersey like the won worn by Adam Sandler, a caddy to offer club options and antics indicative of the popular movie. It earned a popular score of 38 by the “celebrity” judges.
Next up was the final round of the Fastest Skater Competition featuring Los Angeles’ Kevin Fiala against Andrei Svechnikov. Fiala chose a counter-clockwise direction this time and that might of adversely impacted his result. He seemed to slow his speed as he entered the second turn, earning a 14.11 second lap. Svechnikov, too, decided to change his direction for his first attempt, choosing, also to skate counter-clockwise. He faired better with a 13.69 second lap to win the event.
The third breakaway challenge was next when longtime rivals, Washington’s Alex Ovechkin and Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby spoke at center ice about their intense battles and mutual respect, such a unique quality among hockey players. Not long after their skit began, Sergei, Alex’s young soon, skated to certain ice. Before long, all three were advancing with an attack toward Luongo. Young Sergei deposited the puck into the net. The touching skit earned a perfect score of 40.
Next up was the third and final new challenge in the Skills Competition, the Pitch ‘n Puck. Using a combination of hockey and golf shots, Montreal’s Nick Suszki, Columbis’ Johnny Gaudreau, Arizona’s Clayton Keller and Dallas’ Jason Robertson competed on a par 4 goal hole featuring an island green. Lowest score wins. Like the Splash Shot, it was prerecorded.
Players started wristing white pucks on their tee shots and Suzuki led with a long “drive”. While the other players hit the green with their white pucks, it was upon converting to using golf balls that Suzuki sunk a birdie shot to win the competition as his competition were sitting with three strokes before his winning shot.
Next was the Final of the Splash Shot Competition, pitting Colorado teammates Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen against New York Ranger teammates Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox. Just like they did in June, they won another competition in just 18.7 seconds. It is possible that Shesterkin’s decision to use a goalie stick instead of a shooter’s stick may have played a role in the loss.
The event was well-designed and a clever way to incorporate the gorgeous backdrop of the area in what was a perfect day to stage.
The popular Hardest Shot Competition was next featuring five shooters with the top speed winning the event.
Vancouver’s Elias Petterson led the event, hitting 103.2 mph on his second shot, his first attempt registering at 100.8. Winnipeg’s Josh Morrissey delivered shots at 95 and 96.7. Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin, a late replacement for injured teammate Tage Thompson, struck drives of 97.9 and 102.3. Chicago Seth Jones failed to top 95 with efforts of 93.2 and 94.7 falling short of the leader. Then it was up to Washington’s Alex Ovechkin. The entire arena was on their feet, but were disappointed with his first attempt missing the net and his second attempt registering 95.1. Petterson won the event.
The fourth and final Breakaway Challenge was next and it featured Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk in a beach skit, complete with the props of beach ball, beach chair, life guard, dark shades, a bucket hat and a noodle (the thing you might use to keep afloat in a pool) for Luongo to use while defending the net. It was a little awkward, but kind of funny, like maybe if you were slightly inebriated, and netted a score of 33.
The skit of Alex and little Sergei Ovechkin with Sidney Crosby on the event.
The final event of the night was the Accuracy Shooting Competition and would feature two semi-final match-ups and the final. 
First up was New York Islander Brock Nelson against New York Ranger Artemi Panarin. Nelson secured the victory in 17.886 seconds as Panarin was unable to complete hitting all four targets.
Calgary’s Nazem Kadri defeated Edmonton’s Connor MacDavid, 10.131 seconds to 10.612 in the other semi-final.
In the Final round, Nelson secured the crown by defeating Kadri, 12.419 seconds to 18.276.
The League has figured out how to put on a relevant event, particularly when interest in the All-Star Game had been waning. This fun and the celebration of the game was incredibly gratifying.
Dennis Morrell has enjoyed many years of experience in the great game as a hockey writer, photographer, goalie coach, player and currently active USA Hockey-certified referee with over 1,600 games in his striped jersey. His passion for the game began in the early 70s with his first glance at skaters in Clayton’s Shaw Park. He can be reached at dennis.morrell@prohockeynews.com and you can follow him on Twitter at DMMORRELL.
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