ATLANTA – There are some wrinkles that need to be worked out for the NHL’s skills competition.
The event was revamped for this year’s all-star game, which led to some confusion for the spectators and media. At first, no one was sure if the contest started and then it was a little difficult sorting out who was winning in the fastest-skater event.
A new addition was the obstacle course, where players from each team tried to score on a tiny net after shooting the puck over a ramp, hit a target in the net from the blueline and then the goaltenders had to try and score on the net at the opposite end of the ice.
This one needs work. The most interesting part was watching the goalies try and score. Yep, as exciting as it sounds.
Next up was the fastest-skater event. In the past, two players skated one lap of the rink in opposite directions. The one with the fastest time won. Now, it’s a head-to-head race from the goalline to the far blue line.
The races weren’t too bad – Shawn Horcoff of the Edmonton Oilers was the winner – but were rather short. I guess it’s the NHL’s version of a drag race.
The best move in the shootout competiton went to Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Kimmo Timmonen. He made a nice deke on St. Louis Blues goaltender Manny Legace, kept the puck on his stick, pulled it back and tucked it around the goaltender.
Some think the easiest job belongs to the coaches. All they have to do is make up a few lines and handle the changes. But someone made them stand on the benches for the entire skills competition.
The Young Stars game was rather entertaining. It was two six-minute periods of three-on-three play with almost no defensive play. There were lots of breakaways, two-on-nones and two-on-ones. The Eastern Conference hung on for a 7-6 win.
The shooting accuracy competition was much the same as previous years. It also turned out to be the best of the night to that point. It came down to extra shots between Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Tomas Kaberle for the East and Nashville Predators forward Jason Arnott for the West. Kaberle won when he drilled a puck through the centre of his target after Arnott missed. That drew a big roar from the pro-Eastern Conference crowd.
The night ended with the new breakaway challenge, where six players showed their best moves in front of a panel of “celebrity” judges. There were two hockey people among the judges, Bill Clement and Scott Mellanby, plus former basketball star Dominique Wilkins and some actor I’ve never heard of.
Shooters Pavel Datsyuk and Martin St. Louis did not manage anything exciting. Then Ryan Getzlaf warmed things up with a couple of nifty moves. From the crowd’s perspective, the most anticipated appearance was that of hometown hero Ilya Kovalchuk. But his first attempt was a run of the mill rush and shot, and his second was a little better, as he dropped to his knees for the shot.
Marian Gaborik made a decent stab at his breakaway with a between-the-legs shot and then made a hash of a wraparound attempt.
It took the last shooter, Alexander Ovechkin, to go for some style. After a routine try on his first attempt, he flipped the puck to the blade of his stick on his second, flicked it into the air and then tried to score with a baseball swing. He missed.
Only Datsyuk and Ovechkin, on his first attempt, actually scored, by the way.
The celebrity judges drew some boos for their marks, which were all over the place. They gave first place to Ovechkin. "I voted for him because of his contract," Clement said.
One thing that is clear is the players need to work on some routines for next year’s event.
One casualty of the evening appeared to be New York Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro. He looked like he hurt his leg in the shootout competition. He reappeared for a couple other events but missed his last two appearances in the breakaway challenge. It wasn't immediately known if he'd be able to play in Sunday's all-star game.
