2020 NHL All-Star Game: 5 unforgettable moments from skills competition

The 2020 NHL All-Star Game Skills Competition provided quite a few entertaining moments.

Usually, the NHL All-Star Game Skills Competition is fairly boring. This year, it was different. The 2020 NHL All-Star Game Skills Competition was fun and entertaining. There were countless moments that made fans laugh, applaud, and cry tears of joy.

It was a terrific way to start what should be a very fun weekend. The NHL tried some new things and most of them wound up working.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the top moments from Friday night.

A New Speed King

Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers came into Friday night as the three-time defending champion in the Fastest Skater competition. He’s the only player in NHL history to win the award three times and also the only one to win it in consecutive years. McDavid was the heavy favorite going into Friday night, but it was New York Islanders forward Mathew Barzal who wound up winning.

Chris Kreider deserves credit as well. He had the difficult task of going first, which means he didn’t know which time he had to beat. But Kreider surprised quite a few people, finishing with the third-best time of 13.509 seconds. It was a great showing for the first time All-Star.

To his credit, McDavid put on a show as well. He finished with a time of 13.215 seconds, just shy of Barzal’s 13.175 seconds. McDavid was gracious in defeat, complimenting his opponent. “That’s a good time by [Barzal]. Tip your hat. That’s it.”

Tomas Hertl Trolls Jordan Binnington

Pop star Justin Bieber made an appearance on Friday night. But it wasn’t actually him. Rather, it was San Jose Sharks forward Tomas Hertl wearing a Bieber mask. It drew a lot of laughs, even from St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington. Hertl did it during the Save Streak competition, which Binnington wound up winning.

Clearly, some context is needed. Bieber is best known for his singing, but he also loves hockey. He played in an exhibition game during the All-Star Game Weekend in Los Angeles. Bieber has some skills, as he recently showed on Instagram.

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In the comment section, where all feuds these days seem to start, Binnington challenged Bieber to a shootout challenge. A week later, the pop star accepted. They haven’t had the showdown yet, but with the two sides agreeing to wager donations to charity, everybody’s going to win.

A hat tip goes to Hertl for some grade A trolling. I’ve done some trolling in my day and I can’t help but respect Hertl for throwing some shade at Binnington. It was all in good fun and it was one of the funniest moments of the night.

Women Shine

Usually, nobody really tries that hard in the All-Star Game Skills Competition. Nobody wants be “that guy” who injures himself in a glorified exhibition. However, this year, there were some ladies trying really hard on the ice.

The NHL hosted a three-on-three game between the women’s teams of Team USA and Team Canada. It was terrific to see them get the spotlight they fully warrant. As a fan of hockey, I love watching few things more than I love watching the USA and Canada women’s teams go at it. It’s a rivalry, but you can tell both sides have immense respect for each other.

Canada win 2-1, but frankly, everybody won. Women’s hockey got the attention it deserved and hopefully, the NHL will continue to give women’s hockey a platform it has not yet been able to get.

Shea Weber Reclaims His Crown

The Hardest Shot competition has lost some of its zest over the years. Part of it is because players like Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins and Shea Weber of the Montreal Canadiens haven’t been participating. But this year, Weber made his glorious return to the competition that he had already won twice.

Weber won a third time with a shot that measured at 106.5 miles per hour. Defending champion John Carlson made a valiant attempt, but his hardest shot clocked in at 104.5 miles per hour.

Shooting Stars Competition Needs Tweaks

Having players shoot from elevated platforms was a good idea in theory. However, Friday night showed it still has some wrinkles that need to be ironed out. When the most memorable thing that happened during the event was Matthew Tkachuk pandering to the crowd by wearing a Yadier Molina Cardinals jersey, you know the event wasn’t actually that exciting.

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Patrick Kane wound up winning the event in a tiebreaker, which was fun to watch. But if the NHL wants to bring that event back next year, they need to make it a little bit more interesting.

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