The 2009 NHL Skills Competition
A 15-year-old record was broken. Two men went 4-for-4 in the accuracy competition. And most important of all, an apparent end has come to the NHL’s version of the Cold War – the people of Russia must be breathing a heavy sigh of relief.
Edmonton Oilers Andrew Cogliano started off the night by winning the fastest skater competition with a time around the ice of 14.31 seconds. This was a far cry from Mike Gartner’s record of 13.39 seconds, which he set in 1996 at the age of 37. After seeing a flashback of Gartner’s record-setting lap, this year’s entire group looked like they coasted through it.
I can understand taking it easy – nothing would be worse for the league or the already troubled state of the All-Star festivities if a player got hurt during an exhibition. But if you’re not going to give it your all, then why do it? The fans want to see what these players are capable of and as participants the players should want to provide entertainment for the paying customers. Only one individual seemed to understand this, but we’ll get to that a little later.
The rookies beat the sophomores in the “Young Stars Game” by a score of 9 to 5. This is the one event that I would say the league could scrap. The format of the game was interesting: three 6-minute periods, 3-on-3, no stoppages in play. But all of the players involved–with the exception of Marc Staal who actually hit someone–looked like they were just going through the motions. There is no need for defense in a game like this, but if you’re not going to go full-speed on offense or in goal then why bother?
Evgeni Malkin won the Accuracy Contest in a shoot-off with Dany Heatley. Both went 4-for-4 in the first round. Seeing two men shoot perfect was impressive, because hitting four tiny targets in four shots is a rarity. Malkin won it after going 3-for-4 in the second round of the event; 7-for-8 in two rounds. Wow!
Shane Doan of the Phoenix Coyotes won the marathon elimination shootout. This was an interesting event where each All-Star gets a breakaway shot. Make it and he moves on, miss and he’s out. Doan won after 7 rounds – a little long but fun to watch nevertheless.
Boston’s Zdeno Chara won the hardest shot competition, hammering a 105.4 mile per hour shot to end the event. His blast barely broke Al Iafrate’s record of 105.2 mph set in 1993. This was Chara’s third straight win in the event, so it’s no real surprise that he won- Chara stands 6′9” (near 7′ in skates!!) and uses the longest stick allowed in the NHL.
Chara wanted to make his event a little more interesting. He put up $1,000 to the winner and got the other five competitors to do the same. Each of the players’ respective teams also gave $1,000 to the pot, and the league matched the overall total. Chara donated his winnings, which totaled $24,000, to ‘Right to Play,’ a charity that uses sports to help children in disadvantaged communities and countries around the world. Apparently, Chara’s got a heart to match that massive body of his.
Finally, Alexander Ovechkin won the breakaway challenge for the second straight year. Ovechkin is an NHL Rockstar – he always plays the game at full-speed and seems to love hitting just as much as he does scoring. He also knows how to entertain the fans, which is all that matters during All-Star weekend.
Ovechkin’s winning shot was more spectacle than skill. With time running out, he skated over to fellow Russian Evgeni Malkin, who put a hat with a Canadian flag attached to it and a pair of sunglasses on him. Malkin then poured some Gatorade in Ovechkin’s mouth and gave him his own stick. Handling the puck with two sticks, Ovechkin skated down the ice toward the goal, then threw his natural right-handed stick away and buried the puck in the net left-handed. He then skated to the boards and threw his hat and glasses into the crowd.
But Malkin and Ovechkin interacted with each other! Cordially!! That was the story of the night. By now, every hockey fan has heard about the heated rivalry the two shared. Anyone watching a Capitals-Penguins before the break could see it play out on the ice – both men would seemingly go out of their ways to hit each other, though Ovechkin (the Bull, as I like to call him) often looked like he was out for blood.
Both men kept pretty quiet about what was going on between them. All that was known was that Oveckin took a swing at Malkin’s representative one night at a club in Russia. But it was pretty clear that they did not like each other.
Word was that fellow Russian Ilya Kovalchuk brokered the peace deal between the two – and aside from the on-ice theatrics, Ovechkin and Malkin actually went out to dinner together afterward.
I think it’s great that they’ve made peace. It’s better for the game, especially since it should make for a friendly rivalry on the ice rather than a vicious one. But this will prove to be even better next year, making for what should be an extremely competitive Olympics. With Ovechkin and Malkin on the same page, Russia is going to be a force – the clear favorite for the gold medal (sorry, Canada).