The NHL has officially unveiled the player assignments for Friday's Skills Showcase as part of the 2022 NHL All-Star Game.
The NHL has officially unveiled the player assignments for Friday's Skills Showcase as part of the 2022 NHL All-Star Game.
With the 2022 NHL All-Star Game less than 24 hours away, the league has officially announced which players will be participating in which events at the Skills Showcase on Friday night.
New York's Christ Kreider, Los Angeles' Alex Iaffalo, Winnipeg's Kyle Connor, St. Louis' Jordan Kyrou, Washington's Evgeny Kuznetsov, Detroit's Dylan Larkin, Colorado's Cale Makar, and Edmonton's Connor McDavid are set to go head-to-head in the Verizon Fastest Skater challenge. The event actually features two former winners, with Larkin and McDavid each hoping to recapture their crown.
The Dunkin NHL Save Streak will, of course, feature a host of attending goaltenders, with Toronto's Jack Campbell, Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy, Carolina's Frederik Andersen, Pittsburgh's Tristan Jarry, Minnesota's Cam Talbot, Nashville's Jusse Saros, Vancouver's Thatcher Demko, and Anaheim's John Gibson competing against each other for bragging rights.
Taking a trip outside the arena, Florida's Jonathan Huberdeau, Philadelphia's Claude Giroux, Seattle's Jordan Eberle, Nashville's Roman Josi, Montreal's Nick Suzuki, Columbus' Zach Werenski, Vegas' Mark Stone, and former Team USA forward Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson will take part in the Discover NHL Fountain Face-Off, wherein each player must shoot pucks into five targets on a rink built inside the iconic fountains at the Bellagio Hotel.
Also occurring outdoors is the Las Vegas NHL 21 in '22, in which Colorado's Nazem Kadri, Toronto's Auston Matthews, Dallas' Joe Pavelski, Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos, and Ottawa's Brady Tkachuk will participate, shooting pucks at a rack holding gigantic playing cards in an attempt to equal 21 without going bust.
Heading back into the arena, the EA Sports Hardest Shot Competition will feature New York's Adam Pelech, San Jose's Timo Meier, Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman, and Washington's Tom Wilson competing against one another to see whose shot packs the most punch.
For the Adidas Breakaway Challenge, celebrity goaltenders Wyatt Russell and Manon Rheaume will face attempts from Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov, Anaheim's Trevor Zegras, New Jersey's Jack Hughes, Chicago's Alex DeBrincat, and Vegas' Alex Pietrangelo.
And finally, the Honda NHL Accuracy Shooting Challenge will put players' precision to the test, with Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl, Arizona's Clayton Keller, Buffalo's Rasmus Dahlin, Carolina's Sebastian Aho, Pittsburgh's Jake Guentzel, Anaheim's Troy Terry, Calgary's Johnny Gaudreau, Boston's Patrice Bergeron, and Vegas' Jonathan Marchessault going up against each other to see who has the softest touch.
With a full slate of events set to kick off on Friday evening, the 2022 All-Star Game should be fun for all.