Bobrovsky will participate in the one-on-one event during the All-Star Skills Competition on Friday night

The 2024 NHL All-Star Skills Competition is expected to have a different feel than what hockey fans have grown accustomed to over the years.

A year after the Skills Competition paled in comparison to the rest of the weekend’s festivities in South Florida, the league spoke to a couple of its biggest stars in hopes of turning things back around for the longtime beloved part of All-Star Weekend.

With the advice of Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews, the NHL reimagined the skills completion into a winner-take-all spectacle that features only 12 of the 36 non-goalie All-Star players, all battling for a $1 million prize.

The goaltenders also get a piece of the action, though.

Once the player field is trimmed down from 12 to eight, those remaining will each select one of the eight goalies to go up against in a one-one-one event.

The player with the most points after the first round of events will select first, and so on.

It will be very interesting to see how the goaltenders react to seemingly getting called out by some of the most lethal snipers on the planet, but if Florida Panthers tendie Sergei Bobrovsky is any kind of example, it’ll all be in good fun.

“Usually you come to like to the rink and you focus on one shot at a time, so here you can relax your attention a little bit and just enjoy the environment,” Bobrovsky said. “Enjoy being around the fans, around the media, and just have fun with that part of the game.”

If you’re thinking that’s not the typical Bobrovsky answer, you’re correct.

During the season, Bobrovsky remains stoic and laser-focused on improving his craft in order to help his team achieve as much success as possible.

On Thursday, while sitting at one of the eight NHL All-Star Media Day pods in a room that was normally the Toronto Raptors practice court, Bobrovsky was smiling and relaxed while speaking to a dozen or so media members at Scotiabank Arena.

He knows there’s a gauntlet of superstars that are coming for him and his goalie friends, but Bob is going to enjoy himself this weekend. 

Don’t expect the amount of goals he surrenders, whether a high or low number, to impact the size of the smile that will be visible through his goalie mask.

Five years into his Panthers tenure, and over a 14-year NHL career, Bobrovsky has been through a ringer or two.

For the 35-year-old to see the kind of success he’s enjoyed over the past several seasons, between a Presidents’ Trophy campaign, a Stanley Cup Final run and now an All-Star selection, he certainly deserves to soak up every ounce of joy and nostalgia as he can out of the next couple days.

“It’s definitely a very special event for me,” Bobrovsky said. “To be a part of this group, the best hockey players in the world, and be in this kind of company, it definitely gives you the special feelings.”

LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA

Panthers teammates Sam Reinhart, Sergei Bobrovsky drafted to same NHL All-Star squad

THN Archive: The summer of Bob, Bread and Butter

Panthers' Sam Reinhart, Sergei Bobrovsky set for NHL All-Star draft

Anonymous NHL player poll views Sasha Barkov as most underrated, Nick Cousins as most punchable

Looking back: Panthers enter All-Star break on four-game winning streak