Connor McDavid received a generous bonus Source: SITA/Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP
TORONTO – Canadian hockey player Connor McDavid became the overall winner in skills competitions on the eve of the overseas NHL All-Star Game.
Edmonton’s captain collected a total of 25 points in eight events, followed by Cale Makar from Colorado (20) and homegrown Auston Matthews (18). McDavid was awarded a million dollars.
Next in line were Toronto’s William Nylander (16), NY Islanders’ Mathew Barzal (13.5), JT Miller (12) and Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson (10), Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (7), Boston’s David Pastrňák ( 4.5), Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl (4.5), Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes (4) and Tampa’s Nikita Kučerov (0.5).
This year, the skills competitions were spiced up by several novelties, the management of the competition promised to increase its attractiveness after the change in the All Star Skills format. Each hockey player participated in four out of six competitions, fighting for the fastest skater, shooting hardness, technical competition, shooting without preparation, passing accuracy and shooting accuracy.
Cale Makar has the hardest shot
In the past, the Slovak defenseman Zdeno Chára dominated the shooting hardness competition five times, this year Makar triumphed in this discipline. He reached a speed of 102.56 miles per hour.
Individual performances from different categories were added up and a ranking was created. After six basic competitions, only the top eight players made it to solo raids. In them, each skater chose the goalie to go against.
Homegrown William Nylander was the most successful here. Alexandar Georgiev from Colorado performed the best among the goalkeepers, who received a bonus of 100,000 US dollars for nine successful saves.
The best six hockey players advanced to the final discipline and in skating over obstacles they fought for double the number of points. McDavid won the competition for the fastest skater, in stick work, shooting accuracy and also the final obstacle course, which he managed to pass in 40.606 seconds. MacKinnon won the contest in shooting from the first, Pettersson was the best in passing accuracy.
No exhibition, but serious competition
Barzal’s words testify to the fact that the competitions were difficult and the players did not give each other anything. The twenty-six-year-old Canadian had to sit down in a chair and drink water after being asked a question by the moderator: “Honestly, I didn’t think I’d be this tired. It wasn’t an exhibition, this was serious competition.”
McDavid was a news consultant for the event. “It was definitely competitive. The guys worked hard and tried to put on a good show. I feel like we did it and we can feel good about it. At the end of the day it’s up to the fans and I hope they enjoyed it.” said the star of the evening.
Makar’s words testify to the fact that the million-dollar bonus also attracted well-paid professional athletes: “So having a million on the table is great. But getting it meant beating Connor and that’s extremely difficult. He did it and he deserved it.”
Photo gallery (13) Cale Makar Source: SITA/Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP
His teammate Georgiev won the award for the best goalkeeper, he enjoyed the competition: “I think it was pretty diverse. There were a lot of different skills. I guess you have to be a really well-rounded player to win it all. It was fun to watch.”
The winner was deservedly applauded by the full Scotiabank Arena, the captain of the “Oilers” felt the least comfortable when overcoming the obstacle course: “That’s where I was the most nervous. But somehow I got through and I knew I had a pretty good time.”
The event will conclude on Saturday from 21.00 with a traditional three-on-three exhibition tournament between the selections of Jack Hughes from New Jersey, Matthews, MacKinnon and McDavid.
Photo gallery for the article Number of photos: 13
- Author: © List/
- VIDEO: Youtube/NHL
- Source: TASR
2024-02-03 07:51:39
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