An All Star Skills Recap
Taking the ice to the biggest cheer of the night, Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla made his debut tonight as a member of Team Chara at the All Star Skills competition. Waiting for for Iginla to compete in the Relay and Elimination Shoot Out, there were some moments to catch.
In the speed competition, the rookies blew everyone out of the water, with Colin Greening and Carl Hagelin blowing by all competion and Jonathan Quick nailing the goalie race.
While there were plenty of hysterical moments in the break away (Patrick Kane’s superman cape, Carey Price blocking shots backwards, Brian Elliott spinning in his crease, Corey Perry’s mini stick), there was a touching moment when Logan Couture took the ice in his old Ottawa 67’s sweater.
The accuracy shot competition really showed off the players ability to control their frustration. Steven Stamkos gave up and scooted forward, Jamie Benn managed to keep his cool as he took shots, and rookie Matt Read making it into the final round losing to the cool cucumber Benn who hit the 4 targets in 5 shots.
In the righty relay comeptition, first was Dennis Wideman shooting one timers from the blue line, followed by Iginla taking shots from the top of the circle, followed by Joffery Lupul at the goal line. The team then went to the center of the ice where Patrick Kane struggled to skip the puck over the obstacles into the mini nets, so much so that they called the mercy rule for him. Pavel Datsyuk literally skated circles in the Gatorade skating competition. Gabriel Landeskog made it through the pucks with no problem, speeding the team over to Marian Gaborik for another version of the accuracy shots. A bit slow for Team Chara Right, but it is just the beginning of the relays.
Team Alfredsson Right followed it up with Shea Weber up at the blue line, followed by Kris Letang at the top of the circle, and Steve Stamkos from at the goal line. Henrik Sedin moved the passing accuracy along nicely, no mercy rule needed for him. Milan Michalek scooted his way through the Gatorade pylons and Logan Couture working his way thought the puck weaving quickly. James Neal wrapped it up with a very accurate shot, leading to a Team Alfredss
on win in the right relays.
First up in the lefty relay for Team Chara was Dion Phaneuf (3 for 4) at the blue line, followed by Zdeno Chara (3 for 3) himself at the top of the circle, and Jamie Benn at the goal line (3 for 3). Kimmo Timonen struggling in the passing competition but eventually success, Raphael Diaz scooting through the Gatorade and Evgeni Malkin blowing through the pucks. Phil Kessel nailing the accuracy shooting, wrapping Team Chara Left up.
Team Alfredsson Left had Keith Yandle at the blue line, Scott Hartnell at the top of the circle and John Tavares at the goal line. Daniel Sedin in the passing accuracy sailing pucks past the mini net, not doing as well as his brother. Craig Smith flies through the Gatorade pylons and Claude Giroux having no problem weaving the puck through the orange pucks. Jason Pominville took the stage for Team Alfredsson Left in the accuracy shot at the end, coming away with the fastest time.
In the hardest shot competition Luke Adam took the first point recording a personal high of 98.3 MPH and Justin Faulk doesn’t quite reach the same speed in his shot, only hitting 95.9 MPH. Daniel Alfredsson took the ice knocking the puck in at 101.3 PMH and Dennis Wideman with a sad 95.3 MPH. Jason Spezza shoots the puck in, just shy of his captain’s, at 100.5 MPH and Dion Phaneuf only managing a 97.9 MPH, much to the crowds excitement. And to wrap it up Shea Weber blasted the puck in at 104.9 MPH and Zdeno Chara powering the puck in at 108.8 MPH (beating his old record, and the NHL’s of 105.9 MPH). For the final, Chara versus Weber, well I think you know the outcome, Weber at 106.0 MPH and just barely beating him, 107.0 MPH for Chara. Making Chara the hardest shot in the NHL 5 years in a row.
In the elimination shoot out, Greening was blocked by Henrik Lundqvist and Carl Hagelin was stopped by Carey Price. Pavel Datsyuk getting fancy and stonewalled by Lundqvist with Steven Stamkos sneaking it pace Price with a sneak shot. Maklin slipping one past Lundqvist and Tavares also sneaking it past Price. Corey Perry missed his shot against Lundqvist and Spezza sneaking it past Price. The goalies did a quick change Elliott in for Lundqvist stonewalling Tyler Seguin and Giroux getting denied by Tim Thomas who replaced Price. Gaborik shooting the puck right into Elliott’s glove, and Thomas missing the puck as Alfredsson gets it in. Patrick Kane denied in an attempt to get the puck through Elliotts 5-hole and Neal recieving a poke from Thomas. Ever awesome Iginla sneaks the puck in against Elliott and Michalek being denied by Thomas. A quick change of the goalies means Benn faced and lost to Jonathan Quick and Pominville moving the puck past Jimmy Howard. Joffery Lupul not getting the puck past Quick despite his best efforts and Letang just driving the score up further for Team Alfredsson. Timonen scored, but that was the last of round one’s goals with Erik Karlsson, Ryan Suter, and Sedin not getting a goal. Round Two saw no goals for Team Chara and three for Team Alfredsson (Stamkos, Tavares, and Pominvile). Round Three was only Team Alfredsson with Stamkos walking away the winner.
At the end of the event, Team Chara only managed to score 12 points while Team Alfredsson racked up an impressive 21 points.
For reference:
Team Chara is made up of Zdeno Chara, Joffery Lupul, Pavel Datsyuk, Evgeni Malkin, Marian Hossa, Corey Perry, Phil Kessel, Patrick Kane, Jarome Iginla, Marian Gaborik, Jordan Eberle, Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Zdeno Chara, Kimmon Timonen, Ryan Suter, Brian Campbell, Dion Phaneuf, Dennis Wideman, Tim Thomas, Carey Price, and Jimmy Howard. With rookies Luke Adam, Raphael Diaz, Colin Greening, Cody Hodgson, Ryan Johansen, and Gabriel Landeskog.
Team Alfredsson is made up of Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Claude Giroux, Steven Stamkos, Daniel Sedin, Milan Michalek, Henrik Sedin, James Neal, John Tavares, Scott Hartnell, Jason Pominville, Logan Couture, Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Shea Weber, Dan Girardi, Keith Yandle, Alexander Edler, Henrik Lundqvist, Jonathan Quick, and Brian Elliott. With rookies Sean Couturier, Justin Faulk, Carl Hagelin, Nick Johnson, Matt Read, and Craig Smith.
Don’t forget to tune in tomorrow afternoon at 2PM MST for the All Star Game!
Go Iggy Go!