COLUMBUS, Ohio — For my money, the NHL All-Star Skills Competition is easily the best event at All-Star Weekend every year. It’s not even close. But that was before last night, when NHL players surprisingly showed the personality they usually keep bottled up — probably in part because they were hitting the bottle the entire time, but whatever.
The draft was great, so the Skills Competition has a lot to live up to this evening. It begins at 7 p.m. ET from Nationwide Arena in Columbus, and you can watch on NBCSN in the United States or stream it live on NBCSports.com. In Canada, the event is on CBC and TVA Sports.
Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek will each have a prominent role tonight. Here are events and the details on each event in the order they will be played tonight:
Bridgestone NHL Fastest SkaterTM
Philadelphia participants: none
Official rules via the NHL: Four players from each team will test their speed, facing off against an opponent in a two-skater race. The race track is the entire outside border of the ice. Timing devices will record each skater to determine who is the fastest. If a race ends in a tie, each of the teams will be awarded one point. If, at the completion of the event, the skaters who tied have the fastest overall time, the skaters will race again to determine which team receives the bonus point. Five team points are available. The winner of each match-up scores one point; the team with the fastest skater scores one bonus point.
| Team Foligno | Team Toews |
| Phil Kessel (Toronto) | Tyler Seguin (Dallas) |
| Jonathan Drouin (Tampa Bay) | Mike Hoffman (Ottawa) |
| Jiri Sekac (Montreal) | Aaron Ekblad (Florida) |
| Zemgus Girgensons (Buffalo) | Vladimir Tarasenko (St. Louis) |
Honda NHL Breakaway ChallengeTM
Philadelphia participants: Both Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek.
Official rules: A test of creativity a player can insert into a breakaway, three shooters and one goaltender from each team will participate. Columbus’ Ryan Johansen was selected by fans to participate in this event in an online vote. Each skater will attempt three shots. NHL penalty shot rules do not apply. Fans in-arena and watching on television will be able to vote for their favorite player on Twitter by casting their vote using the hashtag that corresponds to the player of their choice. The shooter with the highest fan vote will score one point for his team.
Goalies: Brian Elliott for Team Foligno, Corey Crawford for Team Toews.
| Team Foligno | Team Toews |
| Alex Ovechkin (Washington) | Vladimir Tarasenko (St. Louis) |
| Claude Giroux (Flyers) | Jakub Voracek (Flyers) |
| Ryan Johansen (Columbus) | South Jersey’s Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary) |
DraftKings NHL Accuracy ShootingTM
Philadelphia participants: None
Official rules: Four players from each team will compete, with two additional players serving as passers. This event will consist of four head-to-head match-ups, one shooter from each team per round. The goal is to hit four 15-inch diameter targets located in each corner of the net. The teams will be situated at opposite ends of the rink, and will alternate shot attempts. The first shooter to hit all four targets wins. Five team points are available. The winner of each match-up scores one point; the player who hits all four targets in the fastest time scores the bonus point.
Passers: Anze Kopitar and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for Team Foligno, Patrik Elias and Rick Nash for Team Toews.
| Team Foligno | Team Toews |
| Cherry Hill Native™ Bobby Ryan (Ottawa) | Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim) |
| Nick Foligno (Columbus) | Patrice Bergeron (Boston) |
| Radim Vrbata (Vancouver) | John Tavares (NY Islanders) |
| Patrick Kane (Chicago) | Jonathan Toews (Chicago) |
Gatorade NHL Skills Challenge RelayTM
Philadelpha participants: Jakub Voracek will take one-timers in the second relay.
Official rules: This timed relay event – involving 14 skaters and one goalie from each team – will consist of five challenges: One-Timers, with three shooters and one passer per team; Passing, with one passer per team; Puck Control, with one skater per team; Stick-Handling, with one skater per team; and Goalie Goals, with one goalie per team. Each challenge must be completed before moving on to the next one. The goal is to finish all five challenges faster than the opponent. Three team points are available. The team with the fastest time in each heat scores one point; the team with the fastest overall time scores one bonus point.
Relay 1
| Team Foligno | segment | Team Toews |
| Drew Doughty (Los Angeles) | right one-timer | Shea Weber (Nashville) |
| Ryan Johansen (Columbus) | right one-timer | Justin Faulk (Carolina) |
| Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay) | right one-timer | Tyler Seguin (Dallas) |
| Brent Burns (San Jose) | one-time passer | Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim) |
| Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles) | mini net passer | John Tavares (NY Islanders) |
| Kevin Shattenkirk (St. Louis) | puck control | Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary) |
| Patrick Kane (Chicago) | stick handling | Mike Hoffman (Ottawa) |
| Carey Price (Montreal) | goalie goals | Jaroslav Halak (NY Islanders) |
Relay 2
| Team Foligno | segment | Team Toews |
| Zemgus Girgensons (Buffalo) | left one-timer | Mark Giordano (Calgary) |
| Duncan Keith (Chicago) | left one-timer | Ryan Suter (Minnesota) |
| Nick Foligno (Columbus) | left one-timer | Jakub Voracek (Flyers) |
| Jiri Sekac (Montreal) | one-time passer | Patrice Bergeron (Boston) |
| Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Edmonton) | mini net passer | Tyler Johnson (Tampa Bay) |
| Drew Doughty (Los Angeles) | puck control | Vladimir Tarasenko (St. Louis) |
| Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Arizona) | stick handling | FIlip Forsberg (Nashville) |
| Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh) | goalie goals | Roberto Luongo (Florida) |
AMP NHL Hardest ShotTM
Philadelphia participants: None
Official rules: Four shooters from each team will test their slap shot skill in a head-to-head match-up. Each player will attempt two shots, with teams alternating after each player. One puck will be placed 30 feet from the center of the net. Each shot will be calculated in miles per hour (mph), with the highest speed of their two shots recorded. Five team points are available. The winner of each match-up scores one point; the team with the player who has the fastest speed scores one bonus point.
| Team Foligno | Team Toews |
| Alex Ovechkin (Washington) | Brent Seabrook (Chicago) |
| Brent Burns (San Jose) | Aaron Ekblad (Florida) |
| Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay) | Justin Faulk (Carolina) |
| Dustin Byfuglien (Winnipeg) | Shea Weber (Nashville) |
Discover NHL ShootoutTM.
All players participate in this event.
Official rules: All players will participate in this three-round shootout. During each two-minute round, seven skaters and one goalie from each team will take the ice. The goalies will take their place in net, and the skaters will line up in the offensive zone, facing their opposing goalie. Each player is given 10 seconds to take a shot. Teams will alternate after each shot until the two-minute clock runs down. Every third puck will be a Discover card puck, which is worth more points. Each scoring attempt is officiated following NHL shootout rules. Points available: one point for every goal scored; two points for every goal scored with a Discover card puck.
