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All-Star Skills Competition; Speed, Strength, Selfies

By Brent Scott

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Team Toews faced off against Team Foligno in the NHL All-Star Skill Competition on January 24th, 2015 in Columbus, Ohio.  41 All-Star players and 4 Rookies put their abilities to the test in Fastest Skater, Breakaway Challenge, Accuracy Shooting, Skills Challenge Relay, Hardest Shot and Shootout events.

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What did this mean for the St. Louis Blues?  Blues Forward Vladimir Tarasenko and Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk received the honors to participate in the weekend event.  Goalie Brian Elliot got a late call after one of the All-Star goaltenders was unable to participate due to injury.  Elliot and Shattenkirk were drafted to Team Foligno Friday.  Sadly the trio was broken as Tarasenko went to Team Toews .

Tarasenko participated in the Fastest Skater, Breakaway and the Relay events.  Shattenkirk was slated for the Relay.  Elliot was part of the Breakaway and Relay competitions.  All three participated in the final Shootout event.

FASTEST SKATER

Each team had four entrants in a speed skating competition.  Each heat would earn a point for the winner.  The overall fastest skater would earn an additional point for their team.

Jan 24, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Team Toews forward Vladimir Tarasenko (91) of the St. Louis Blues races Team Foligno center Zemgus Girgensons (28) of the Buffalo Sabres in the 2015 NHL All Star Game skills competition at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Tyler Seguin and Phil Kessel were the first to compete.  Kessel won by a hair to put Foligno up 1.

Hoffman and Drouin were second.  Drouin beat Hoffman, who slipped to put Foligno up 2.

Sekac and Ekblad went thrid.  Sekac was a clear winner to give Foligno their third point.

Tarasenko and Girgensons were fourth.  Girgensons outskated Tarasenko who slipped off the start to give team Foligno a sweep and the bonus point.

Toews 0.  Foligno 5.

BREAKAWAY CHALLENGE

Each skater had three shots against the opponent’s selected goaltender.  This was a competition of creativity and no standard rules applied.  Fans voted for their favorite players on Twitter with the winner earning their team a point.

ROUND 1

Tarasenko held a slapshot as Brian Elliot took a selfie.

Ovechkin took a normal shot after some juggling.

Voracek took a shot between his legs.

Giroux caught a puck on his blade tossed by Stamkos, but missed the shot.

Gaudreau let the puck slide off a fake backhand.

Johansen donned a Ohio State jersey then double kicked the puck into the net.

ROUND 2

Jan 24, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Team Foligno goaltender Brian Elliott (1) of the St. Louis Blues is blindfolded during the breakaway challenge in the 2015 NHL All Star Game skills competition at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports

Brian Elliot put on a blindfold then attempted to stop Tarasenko as he floated a shot from the blue line.

Ovechkin tried to flip the puck on his stick but failed and had to take another pass.

Voracek juggled the puck then tried to baseball it past Elliot.

Giroux attempted to snap the puck and swap sticks but dropped the puck on the stick exchange.

Gaudreau tried his own baseball swing.

Jan 24, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; (EDITORS NOTE: caption correction) Team Foligno center Ryan Johansen (19) of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Cole Vogt , the son of Blue Jackets athletic trainer Mike Vogt , greet teammates after a goal during the breakaway challenge in the 2015 NHL All Star Game skills competition at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports

Johansen kicked the puck around, stopped in the slot, picked up a child on the bench and carried him back to the slot to let him take the shot and score.

ROUND 3

Tarasenko shot at and hit an Accuracy Challenge target in Elliot’s glove.

Ovechkin passed to Tarsenko in the corner who flipped it back, but Ovechkin missed his baseball swing.  He tried a second time but couldn’t make it work.  Then a third with a goalie stick, but missed despite a quickly vacated goal.

Voracek dropped his stick and gloves at the slot then went back for Gaudreau (who is small, himself) and carried him back for the shot.

Giroux carried the puck on the blade on his stick and tried to drop a decoy into the net as he went for a wraparound.

Gaudreau took a shot through his legs and into the net.

Johansen brought six other skaters to the ice and attempted “Flying V” from The Mighty Ducks.  Johansen hit the post on his shot.

Fans around the world decided Ryan Johansen was the best, which earned Team Foligno another point.

Toews 0.  Foligno 6.

ACCURACY SHOOTING

Four players from each team took passes from teammates to hit four targets at the corners of the net.  The fastest time to hit four targets in each heat earned a point as well as a bonus point for the fastest overall time.

Jan 24, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Team Foligno forward Patrick Kane (88) of the Chicago Blackhawks reacts after competing in the accuracy shooting event in the 2015 NHL All Star Game skills competition at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Ryan hit the targets in 30.9 seconds, hitting the crossbar a few times at the end.  Getzlaf went 4 for 7 in 14 seconds.  Team Toews earned a point.

Foligno hit the targets in 13.6 seconds.  Bergeron hit his targets in 17 seconds.  Team Foligno earned the point.

Vrabata took 22.1 seconds.  Tavares took 26.  Foligno earned another point.

Kane hit his targets in 13.5  Toews answered back with 16.3  Foligno earned a point.

Since Kane had the fastest time he earned Team Foligno a bonus point.

Toews 1.  Foligno 10.

SKILLS CHALLENGE RELAY

Each team put out 14 skaters and a goalie in a relay competition to compete in One-Timers, Passing, Puck Control, Stick Handling and Goalie Goals.  The fastest in each heat earned a point, with the fastest team earning a bonus point.

Faulk, Seguin and Weber took their one-time shots in 20 seconds.  Then Tavares hit four tiny goals by 1:09.  Gaudreau skated the cones but lost the puck to extend the time to 1:38  Hoffman went through his handling course by 1:50.  Halak shot from the net to the other net and found two goals to stop the clock at 2:06.

Jan 24, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Team Foligno defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (22) of the St. Louis Blues competes in the skills challenge relay in the 2015 NHL All Star Game skills competition at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Stamkos, Johansen  and Doughty shot their on-timers and hit the net after 18 second.  Kopitar then scored in his four accuracy nets by 38.  Shattenkirk blazed through the control cones at 1:02.  Kane went equally fast through stick-handling at 1:15.  Price scored his two goalie goals at 1:37 to give Team Foligno the win.

Voracek, Suter and Giordano earned their one-timers in 25 seconds.  Getzlaf hit the accuracy shots after 38.  Tarasenko went around the cones in 1:05 although he knocked one over.  Forsberg flew trough the handling course without error by 1:13.  Finally, Luongo scored across the ice in 1:38

Foligno, Girgenson, and Kieth finished their one-timer heat in 45 seconds after a mercy call.  Nugent-Hopkins took some time but scored four accuracy shots by 1:28.  Doughty went through his cones after 1:55 and Ekman-Larsson blazed through stick-handling by 2:04.  Flurry scored two goals from his crease after 2:19, which wasn’t fast enough to beat team Toews.

Foligno had the fastest heat though, at 1:37, and earned an additional point.  Toews 2.  Foligno 12.

HARDEST SHOT

Each team put out five players who took two 30 ft. slapshots.  Their fastest shot was recorded.  The teams earned a point for a win in each matchup and a bonus point for the player with the hardest overall shot.

Ovechkin shot 101.4.  Seabrook shot 96.9.  Ovechkin followed up with another 101.4.  Seabrook shot 98.6.  Ovechkin earned Foligno a point.

Burns hit 93.3.  Ekblad shot 95.3.  Burns shot 97.6 for his second.  Ekblad registered 93.9.  Burns received the win for Foligno.

Jan 24, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Team Toews defenseman Shea Weber (6) of the Nashville Predators during the hardest shot competition in the 2015 NHL All Star Game skills competition at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports

Stamkos hit a 98.8 slapshot.  Faulk shot a 95.  Stamkos followed up with 97.5.  Faulk hit 94.9.  Stamkos received another point for Foligno.

Byfuglien took his turn at 95.8  Weber missed the net.  Byfuglien hit 97.3 on his second.  Weber hit the net at 108.5 for the hardest shot to give Toews a point plus a bonus for the hardest shot.

Toews 4.  Foligno 15.

SHOOTOUT

All players participated in three rounds of shootouts.  The fourteen players had 2 minutes to take turns at a shootout run and score as many on the opposing goalie as possible.

Jan 24, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Team Foligno forward Alex Ovechkin (8) of the Washington Capitals shoots against Team Toews goaltender Jaroslav Halak (41) of the New York Islanders in the shootout in the 2015 NHL All Star Game skills competition at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

The first round had Ovechkin, Shattenkirk, Kane, Byfuglien, Girgensons, Foligno and Nugent-Hopkins with Elliot in goal for Foligno against Bergeron, Hoffman, Seguin, Ekblad, Weber, Tarasenko and Suter with Halak in goal for Toews.  Toews scored 5 and Foligno scored 2.

Toews 9.  Foligno 17.

The second round had Drouin, Ekman-Larsson, Burns, Sekac, Kieth, Kopitar and Vrbata with Fluery in the net for Foligno against Faulk, Gaudreau, Tavares, Seabrook, Elias, Nash and Giordano with Luongo in goal for Toews.  Toews scored 4 and Foligno scored 6

Toews 13.  Foligno 23.

The third round had Ryan, Kessel, Johansen, Doughty, Stamkos, Giroux and Foligno with Price in goal for Team Foligno against Getzlaf, Tavares, Toews, Forsberg, Seguin, Voracek and Nash with Crawford in new for Team Toews.  Toews scored 6 and Foligno scored 2

In the end Team Foligno took the contest with the final score being Team Toews at 19 to team Foligno at 25.

WHO STOOD OUT

Despite missing his first shot in the Hardest Shot challenge, Shea Weber beat his opposition by a wide margin with a 108.5 mph (174.6 kph) shot.  No other player broke 100 mph except for Alex Ovechkin who registered 101.4 mph (162 kph).  I’m sure there’s a player in the NHL who can beat this, but of the All-Stars this is impressive.

Jan 10, 2015; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg (9) looks on during the first period against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. The Predators defeated the Wild 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Filip Forsberg went to the All-Star weekend as an invited rookie which means that he isn’t technically in consideration for the All-Star game.  However it looks like he and Johnny Gaudreau may be part of Team Toews in order to balance things out.  After watching Forsberg’s shootout shots and how he flawlessly moved the puck through the handling course it is apparent that he will be part of next year’s NHL All-Star Weekend.

The boys from St. Louis didn’t do too bad either.  Tarasenko may have had a few slip-ups in the speed skating and puck control areas but overall did well and was entertaining.  How he and Brian Elliot didn’t earn Team Teows the Breakaway Challenge point is beyond me.  It was great to see he and Elliot work together to entertain the fans.  Selfies, blindfolds and accuracy targets.  It was a good show.

It was also fun to watch Elliot celebrate in the crease after he denied Tarasenko a shootout shot in the final competition.  Earlier in the event, Elliot showed great character by taking some selfies with two fans.  He checked the picture, realized one kid wasn’t in it and said they should take another.

Jan 24, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Team Foligno defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (22) of the St. Louis Blues shoots against Team Toews goaltender Jaroslav Halak (41) of the New York Islanders in the shootout in the 2015 NHL All Star Game skills competition at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

The cover photo above shows a great moment in the skills challenge as well.  Former teammates Kevin Shattenkirk and Jaroslav Halak skating back to center ice just after Shattenkirk challenged Jaro in the Shootout Challenge.  Halak has had a great season and I’m sure that the three Blues players in attendance are as happy for him as are the fans in St. Louis.

How did you enjoy the skills competition?  Do you think the All-Star game will be as exciting?  Leave your thoughts below.

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