All Star Weekend – The Skills Competition

In breaking down last weekend’s NHL SuperSkills Competition that was held Saturday, it was a mixed bag of fun/disappointment put on by the National Hockey League. The skills competition put the West/East teams in a friendly rivalry as players tested their hockey skills in eight different events in front of a packed house at Phillips Arena.

After spending my Saturday night watching this competition, I provide a quick review of what went right, and some things the NHL should rethink before the 2009 All-Star Weekend comes around.

The Good:

Obstacle Course Relay – A crafty new addition to the skills competition, the relay consisted of a set of players from each squad controlling a puck through cones, completing saucer passes, one-timers and goalies shooting pucks from their own goalie crease to score goals. The team that had the best score/fastest time won. This was very innovative and fun to watch.

Accuracy Contest – This contest is always fun one to watch, and this year was no different. Not only was seeing Tomas Kaberle go 4 for 4 in this event an added bonus, but the contest was also a lot closer than in past years, and it came down to the final target (it literally did), as Kaberle defeated Jason Arnott.

Elimination Shootout – One of the new events (similar to the breakaway relay) in this year’s competition, players had to score on a breakaway, or they were eliminated. Last shooter standing would win the event. Dion Phaneuf, a Flames defenseman won this contest, which also shows that breaking panels of glass are not the only thing he can do with the hockey puck.

Hardest Shot – I like the simplicity of this event, and it's pretty self-explanatory. Zdeno Chara won with a 103.1 MPH slapshot, which goes to show that hockey pucks do move faster than they appear to be moving on your TV screen.

The Bad:

YoungStars Contest – What formally was a full-length game held the night before the skills competition, was condensed down to a single twelve minute period. You got to be kidding me. Sure it was cool watching 3 on 3 hockey, but I would rather see this return to a full game in the future. Oh, and Manny Legace provided some good entertainment, as he was a goalie who wore a microphone during this event and had many things to say while the puck was in play.

Fastest Skater Contest – In the past, this event has been one of the most exciting things to watch in the skills competition, as skaters went as fast as they could to make a lap around the ice. There were crashes, record speeds, and everything you’d want to see in this event. This year however, they reduced the fastest skater competition to a simple sprint from the end line to the far blue line, which was a big disappointment.

Trick Shot Competition – I know this was one hell of a creative idea by the NHL which is good, but I toss it in the bad column due to the players poorly executing this event. The objective here was for each skater to try and score the most creative goal possible, and gain the highest score by the celebrity judges. The players did a poor job, as the creative juices were not flowing, and overall, the contest was pretty dull. Let’s just say that I have seen better trick shots posted on YouTube than the ones performed in this competition. I will say though, that if each player had the kind of creativeness Ovechkin had, I would have been much more satisfied with this event. Instead it was like a NBA dunk contest that consisted of lame/missed dunks.