A Quick Summary of the 2015 NHL All-Star Weekend
By Fatima Younis
Sports Writer
Jonathan Toews has been named one of the captains in the 2015 All-Star Weekend, held in Columbus, Ohio.
The NHL All-Star Weekend is an exhibition hockey game and skills competition that is held at or around the middle of the regular season, featuring the NHL’s best players as voted for by fans, and its funds go to the players’ pension fund. This year, Columbus will be hosting the All-Star Weekend.
The NHL All-Star Weekend includes the Eastern Conference All-Star players (captained by Nick Foligno of the Columbus Blue Jackets) against the Western Conference All-Star players (captained by Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks) in a series of competitions known as the NHL All-Star Game SuperSkills Competition, which occurs on the night preceding the NHL All-Star Game. The NHL created this event to show off the skill and talent of its players, who select representatives for both teams in the events, and points go to the winning team. Events include but are not limited to accuracy shooting, fastest skater, Skills Challenge Relay, hardest shot, Breakaway Challenge, and Elimination Shootout. The team with the least time elapsed during all these events gets an extra point.
The fastest skater competition is as its name suggests; its purpose is to be the fastest skater around an obstacle course placed on the rink. The Breakaway Challenge shows players getting creative on their shots, and the winners are decided by fan voting via text messaging. As its name suggests, the accuracy shooting challenge is where players try to hit four targets on the net in the fastest time possible. The Skills Challenge Relay consists of five relays, where two groups of each team participate (left handed and right handed players): one-timers, where three players must shoot and score from three different points in the offensive zone, passing, where one passer must execute six passes into six different nets, puck control relay, where one player skates with the puck through a series of cones, stickhandling, where a player maneuvers one puck through a series of pucks, and accuracy shooting, where one player must hit four targets accurately, the hard shot competition, in which the player with the hardest shot wins, and the record set for this event is by Zdeno Chara; his puck has been clocked at a speed of 108.8 miles per hour, and elimination shootout, where all players participate in a shootout against the opposing goaltender, and players who fail to score are eliminated, with the last remaining player being called upon as the winner.
Paul Kariya had been a winner of the Breakaway Challenge twice.
The event that follows the SuperSkills Competition is the actual exhibition game, where, as mentioned before, the Western Conference All-Star Team competes against the Eastern Conference All-Star Team.
The coaches for this game are determined by the percentage of points; whichever coach leads the team with the highest percentage points out of total points possible is named to be an All-Star coach. This year, 2015, Peter Laviolette of the Nashville Predators has been selected to lead the Eastern Conference team, and Darryl Sutter of the Los Angeles Kings will lead the Western Conference team.
The first six All-Star players, as decided by fan votes, are Buffalo Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons, and Chicago Blackhawks forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, and goaltender Corey Crawford. The rest of the players are Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar and defenseman Drew Doughty, Philadelphia Flyers forwards Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek, Pittsburgh Penguins forwards Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and Tampa Bay Lightning forwards Tyler Johnson, Steven Stamkos, New York Rangers forward Rick Nash, St. Louis Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and forward Vladimir Tarasenko, Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne and defenseman Shea Weber, Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin, Florida Panthers goaltender Roberto Luong, Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price, Arizona Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Boston Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron, Calgary Flames defenseman Mark Giordano, Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk, Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson, Edmonton Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Ottawa Senators forward Bobby Ryan, Vancouver Canucks forward Radim Vrbata, Anaheim Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf, Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin, Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard, Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter, New Jersey Devils forward Patrik Elias, New York Islanders forward John Tavares, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel, San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns, and Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien. Good luck to all teams, and may the best team win.
Citations:
"Nick Foligno, Jonathan Toews Named Captains for 2015 NHL All-Star Weekend." NHL.com. N.p., 14 Jan. 2015. Web. 15 Jan. 2015. <http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=748621>.
Adam, Gretz. "NHL Announces Complete Roster for 2015 All-Star Game." CBSSports.com. N.p., 10 Jan. 2015. Web. 15 Jan. 2015. <http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/eye-on-hockey/24952706/nhl-announces-complete-roster-for-2015-all-star-game>.
The rest of the stuff, such as the events in the All-Star Weekend, I already knew because I've been watching the All-Stars for years.