Georgiev’s saves, Kucherov’s failure and McDavid’s triumph: what do you remember about the skill competitions before the NHL All-Star Game?

Competitions in which the NHL's strongest hockey players demonstrate their skills on the ice have long become an integral part of the All-Star Game. Fans are accustomed to the fact that on the eve of the actual matches, players compete in speed, throwing power, pass accuracy, and so on.

However, this time the organizers made major changes to the regulations in order to increase competition and ensure intrigue until the last moment. In total, according to fan voting, 12 people were supposed to take part in eight competitions. Moreover, after the first six, the three weakest in terms of points scored were eliminated, and after the “One on One” goalkeeper competition, two more were eliminated. In addition, initially everyone had to choose four challenges.

Among the Russians, Nikita Kucherov and Alexander Georgiev were represented. Unfortunately, the Tampa Bay forward and the leader of the scoring race this NHL season did not perform well and dropped out after the first part. He finished fifth in touch throws. In “Precision Shot” he hit four targets in each corner of the goal in 16.460 seconds and placed seventh. Finally, in the competition for passing accuracy and stick handling, he completely finished off the table.

Meanwhile, there was a fierce fight between others on the site. In the competition for the fastest speed for the fourth time in a row at the NHL All-Star Games, Connor McDavid left no chance for anyone, completing the lap in 13.408 seconds.

In the touch-throw tournament, where it was necessary to score points for hitting the puck in certain areas of the goal, Nathan MacKinnon had no equal. At the same time, the passes to the hockey players were performed by the young Chicago talent Connor Bedard, who is currently recovering from a broken jaw. After the competition ended, he thanked the league for inviting him despite his injury.

The precision passing competition, where you had to skate around the court and hit targets of different sizes with the puck, was won by Elias Pettersson, ahead of Kyle Makar and Mathew Barzal. But the Colorado defender made the most powerful shot, sending the projectile at a speed of 102.50 miles per hour.

“To be honest, I was a little surprised. I don't know if I've ever shot a puck over 100 mph. Pretty cool... I hardly focus on hitting as hard as possible during matches, but a few guys on our team were telling me I should hit the hardest shot I could, so I thought I'd give it a try. I’ve never done this, so I decided it would be cool to just try, and today everything worked out in my favor,” the official NHL website quotes the hockey player as saying.

Along the way, he became the leader in the intermediate standings. But in the two remaining competitions McDavid made his presence known again. He excelled both in “Handling a Stick,” where he had to go through an obstacle course the fastest, and in “Accurate Throw.” In addition to Kucherov, Leon Draisaitl and Quinn Hughes completed the performance.

Next, the fans were treated to another bright show - the “One on One” goalkeeper competition. Each fielder chose a goalkeeper and received nine unique shootouts.

It is gratifying that this time the Russian Georgiev showed himself to be the best. Apparently, realizing how strong Alexander is in this component, for a long time no one agreed to take him on as a rival. In the end, it was McDavid who was the last to decide. The idea turned out to be unsuccessful, since the native of Ruse repelled most of the shots and at the same time received a special prize - $100 thousand.

“I would say it's very cool. Honestly, it's like a real game: you compete, you get the satisfaction of doing well, and then you have to let it all go. But I liked it. The guys were trying to have fun and maybe find funny matches. It seemed to me that Mathew Barzal was looking at me all the time, and I was ready to go out with him, but he chose Igor Shesterkin - probably he wanted to repeat that New York derby,” Georgiev rejoiced.

However, not all of his colleagues were as convincing. For example, Cam Talbot allowed William Nylander to score nine points. And MacKinnon and Pettersson completed the performance. Despite the local setback, McDavid was still in the lead in the interim table.

Finally, the final obstacle course served as the icing on the cake. Within its framework, the participants had to pass the puck through special targets, hit three small goals located in one of the face-off circles, bypass a number of obstacles and hit the large goal with a projectile. Points for participation in this competition were doubled.

McDavid was the last to take to the ice, knowing the result of his main rival Makar and realizing that he could not yield to him. As a result, he coped with the task and completed everything in 40.606 seconds. This allowed the striker not only to get ahead of his colleagues, but also to enrich himself by $1 million.

“I think it was interesting. Speaking of the competitive component, competition was definitely present. I tried my best. The guys worked hard to make the competitions a success, and I think we did it and can be happy with what we achieved. Ultimately, it’s up to the fans to decide, and I hope they enjoyed it,” summed up the winner.

Makar, who took second place, was not too upset. According to him, it was not easy to surpass such a master as McDavid in any case. The main thing is that the athletes themselves liked the new format of competitions at the NHL All-Star Game.

“I think it's cool. This is the first year in this format. It’s impossible to achieve the ideal, but I thought that a good foundation had been created for the future to continue to hold skill competitions under these rules,” admitted Auston Matthews.