The Chicago Blackhawks will have at least three players compete in the 2017 NHL Skills Challenge at 6 p.m. CT Saturday in Los Angeles.
Forwards Patrick Kane (stick-handling) and Jonathan Toews (passing) along with defenseman Duncan Keith (one timer) will compete in the Skills Challenge Relay. Kane will also be in the Accuracy Shooting.
The relay is a timed event with seven skaters and one goaltender from each team: One Timers (three shooters and one passer), Passing (one skater), Puck Control (one skater), Stick-handling (one skater) and Goalie Goals (one netminder). Minnesota’s Ryan Suter and St. Louis’ Vladimir Tarasenko will be the other players in the one-timer contest with Keith on the Central Division team.
There are four other events to round out the event: Fastest Skater, Hardest Shot and the new Four Line Challenge.
The Four Line Challenge will feature four skaters from each divisional team at different positions: the two blue lines, the red line, and the opposing goal line as they try to score as many goals as possible. Teams can also substitute their final shooter for a goaltender to obtain bonus points, so Chicago’s Corey Crawford or Minnesota’s Devan Dubnyk could shoot for the Central Division.
The final event is the shootout. The top-scoring teams from each conference through five events will participate to determine the winner. The score will be reset to zero. Nine players and two goaltenders from each team play, with traditional NHL shootout rules with a few twists.
Each team captain will select a player from the losing division in their conference to join their team, and each goal scorer by that player will count for two. Also, shooters will be determined on the fly and can shoot more than once.
Even if the Central team doesn’t advance the shootout event, it’s highly likely Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, the Pacific Division captain, could pick Kane to shoot for his team.