TORONTO: With the help of Connor McDavid, the NHL revitalised its flagging skills competition.
The captain of the Edmonton Oilers went on to win the $1 million award.
Friday, McDavid won the stick handling, shooting accuracy, obstacle course, and fastest skater competitions. Earlier in the season, he helped the league revitalise a portion of the all-star celebrations that had become rather dull.
TORONTO: The NHL revived its ailing skills competition with the assistance of Connor McDavid.
The $1 million prize was eventually won by the Edmonton Oilers captain.
It was “a lot of fun,” Matthews remarked. Most of the time quite competitive. As it was coming to an end, you could see that the boys were working really hard.
“It was well done.”
McDavid triumphed in the obstacle course, stick handling, shot accuracy, and fastest skater competitions on Friday. He assisted the league in bringing some life back to the all-star festivities earlier in the season, which had grown a little monotonous.
The remaining players were David Pastrnak (Boston), Mathew Barzal (New York Islanders), J.T. Miller (Vancouver), Quinn Hughes (Vancouver), Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton), Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay), Elias Pettersson (Vancouver), and Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado).
The NHL had to explore for ways to spark interest from players and fans after last year’s disastrous skills showcase in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which included competitions on a golf course and at the beach. The event was a complete failure.
“We’re staying active and it’s not just kind of sitting there for three hours after we do one event,” Makar stated. “A good change of scenery for us this year.”
The four-team tournament on Saturday came after the all-star player draft on Thursday.
Each participant received points for participating in four of the first six events, which included the fastest skater, hardest shot, stick handling and one-timers, passing, and shooting accuracy. All twelve players participated in these events.
When the goaltenders were introduced for the one-on-one match, the field was reduced to eight players.
With the final obstacle course event approaching, two more participants were eliminated.
Captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby and Chicago Blackhawks centre and 2023 first-round selection Connor Bedard, who is injured, were also on the ice during the entire game.
There were just eight participants on the pitch when the goaltenders were revealed for the one-on-one game.
As the last obstacle course event drew near, two more contestants were removed.
Sidney Crosby, the captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and injured centre Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks, who was selected in the first round of the 2023 NHL Draft, were also in the game.”It’s tougher than people think.”
The new one-timer event, in which points were granted based on where the puck struck the net, was won by MacKinnon.
After some supporters began to jeer Kucherov for seemingly not giving it his all throughout the event, Pettersson accepted the passing accuracy challenge.
The highest scorer in the NHL said, “It wasn’t my day.” “But I was enjoying it.”
Makar, with a speed of 1
The stick handling event was won by McDavid in 25.755 seconds. The fans that had witnessed the Tampa forward in the previous two playoff series became increasingly agitated as Kucherov wandered around the course once more.
Competing in his de facto hometown and on the rink where he saw the Leafs grow up, McDavid, a native of nearby Richmond Hill, Ontario, won again in the shooting accuracy category after placing second the previous year. He went 4-for-4 in just 9.158 seconds.
Matthews described the player as “special.” He is the best in the game. Nobody seems really shocked that he’s taking first place and the large cheque, in my opinion.”
02.56 miles per hour, claimed the hardest shot. However, Zdeno Chara’s 2012 record of 108.8 mph is still valid for at least another year.
To the one-on-one shootout event went the top eight players: McDavid, Makar, Barzal, Pettersson, Matthews, Miller, MacKinnon, and Nylander.
After stopping McDavid, Alexandar Georgiev of Colorado won $100,000 for the best goaltending performance. Nylander won that competition with a fantastic performance that included a one-handed breakaway move from the Swede that was reminiscent of countryman Peter Forsberg’s shootout move in the 1994 Olympics.
Six competitors remained for the final obstacle course after Pettersson and MacKinnon were eliminated; McDavid won in 40.606 seconds.
plus the $1 million salary.
The Canadian Press originally released this story on February 2, 2024.
