The captains of the respective teams for the 2015 NHL All-Star Game, in Team Toews and Team Foligno, spent Saturday morning doling out spots for the skills competition, set to take place on Saturday night in Columbus. In what was surely a painstaking process, the final list of events and participants in each will shake out like this:
Fastest Skater Competition
This is one just what it sounds like. Each side will occupy half of the rink, with a full lap consisting of that half. One player from each will race at the same time. The fastest overall skater has the ability to grab an extra point for his respective team.
Team Toews:
Team Foligno
- Phil Kessel
- Jonathan Drouin
- Jiri Sekac
- Zemgus Girgensons
Breakaway Challenge
Blackhawks fans know quite a bit about this one, as last time we saw the Breakaway Challenge, Patrick Kane donned the Superman cape and Clark Kent glasses. It’s a shootout with an extra bit of flare, in what should be an extremely entertaining bit on Saturday night. The rules are, there ain’t no rules.
Team Toews
- Vladimir Tarasenko
- Johnny Gaudreau
- Jakub Voracek
- Corey Crawford will be in goal
Team Foligno
- Alex Ovechkin
- Claude Giroux
- Ryan Johansen
- Brian Elliot will be in goal
Hardest Shot
This one is pretty self explanatory. It’ll feature four shooters from each side, with each getting a pair of shots to record the hardest shot possible. Each skater will go head-to-head with a skater from the other side, with the winner of each matchup taking a point for their side. Will anyone top Zdeno Chara’s 108.8? Seems unlikely, but Shea Weber is here.
Team Toews
- Brent Seabrook
- Justin Faulk
- Aaron Ekblad
- Shea Weber (obviously)
Team Foligno
- Brent Burns
- Steven Stamkos
- Alex Ovechkin
- Dustin Byfuglien
Accuracy Shooting
Another somewhat obvious event, as each participant will fire shots into each of the four corners of the net. Skaters will go head-to-head with opponents on the other side to see who can eliminate all four first.
Team Toews
Team Foligno
- Nick Foligno
- Patrick Kane
- Radim Vrbata
- Bobby Ryan
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
- Anze Kopitar
Skills Challenge Relay
This is always a fun one to watch, if not for the shear volume of players participating. Sixteen from each side will get a go, including 14 skaters and a pair of goaltenders. They’ll race against each other in a variety of events that include one-timers (with one passer dishing to three skaters in three different spots), puck control, stick handling, passing (into absurdly small nets with and without obstacles), and goalie goals (goalies will have to score a pair from the opposite end of the ice).
Stay tuned for participants here, as this one will undoubtedly feature at least a few Blackhawks, including Duncan Keith, Toews (passer in the one-timer competition perhaps?), and quite obviously Patrick Kane.
Shootout
The final competition of the night, every skater and goaltender from each team will participate. In three different two minute rounds, the teams will be divided up into seven skaters and one goaltender. They’ll alternate shots and follow traditional shootout rules. Pretty standard event here, in what will still be barely longer than that Florida Panthers/Washington Capitals shootout from a few weeks ago.
How to Watch
Time: 7 P.M. CST at Nationwide Arena
TV: NBC Sports Network (CBC in Canada)
Streaming: NBC Sports Extra
Randy Holt is a staff writer for Second City Hockey. You can follow him on Twitter @RandallPnkFloyd.