NHL All-Star Weekend

NHL All-Star Weekend 2020

Between Friday, January 24 and Sunday, January 26, the NHL All-Star weekend took place in St. Louis, Missouri. The weekend was packed with great activities and games. The all-star game would take place in St. Louis, just six months after the St. Louis Blues won their first ever Stanley Cup.

All-Star Skills Competition

The first activity that would kick off the great events in St. Louis was the All-Star skills competition. This was held on Friday, January 24. The skills competition was comprised of 6 different events: NHL fastest skater, NHL Save streak, NHL accuracy shooting, NHL hardest shot, NHL shooting stars, and lastly Elite women’s 3 on 3. All- stars from around the league would compete in these 6 competitions to determine a winner. For each event, there were previously chosen participants. The first event to kick off the evening was the NHL fastest skater. Matthew Barzel from the New York Islanders took home first place in this competition defeating three-time defending champ Connor McDavid. The next competition was the NHL save streak. Eight goalies competed in a shoot out to see who could save the most shoot out attempts in a row. St. Louis’s own, Jordan Binnington, placed first with saving 10 in a row. Following the save streak, the NHL accuracy shooting started. Players shot pucks at 5 different targets while seeing who could hit them all the fastest. Jaccob Slavin, representing the Carolina Panthers, earned first place with a time of 9.505 seconds. The fourth competition was the NHL hardest shot. Defensemen Shea Weber had the hardest shot attempt coming in at 106.5 mph. The next event that took place was the NHL Shooting Stars. Here, players would shoot pucks from a platform in the stands, to try and earn points by hitting targets on the ice. Patrick Kane, from the St. Louis Blues rival, Chicago Blackhawks, took home the gold after winning in a tiebreaker. The sixth and final event for the skills competition was the Elite Women’s 3 on 3 game. In this game, all-stars from the American team and all-stars from the Canadian team faced off in a game of 3 on 3 hockey. This was the first time this competition was a part of the NHL All-Star competition. The growth of women’s hockey continues to grow. Friday night was just a fun preview of what was to come on Saturday.

All-Star Game

The NHL all-star game has recently adopted a new style of play. The game consists of four teams, one representing each division, and they play two periods of 3 on 3 hockey. The 3 on 3 style is played to create more chances for the teams and create a faster paced, exciting game. The Atlantic, Pacific, Central, and Metropolitan Divisions are the three teams that make up the all-star game. Each team will face off in a semifinal game, with the winner advancing to the championship. First, the Atlantic matched up against the Metropolitan for a semifinal. The Atlantic went on to defeat the Metropolitan division by a score of 9-5. The second semifinal would take place shortly after, with the Pacific and Central divisions squaring off. The Pacific defeated the Central 10-5 to advance to the championship. Here, they would face the Atlantic Division. Pacific defeated the Atlantic 5-4 to win the 2020 NHL All-Star game. They would get to claim their $1 million dollar prize.

All weekend in downtown St. Louis there were many events for fans to attend. Lasting the whole all- star weekend, Fan Fest took place at the newly renovated Union Station in downtown. Sunday, the NHL mascots faced off in a Mascot Showdown for the fans to watch. Throughout the weekend, there was also many singers and bands who performed in front of the crowd of people in St. Louis. It was an exciting, and event-filled weekend in downtown St. Louis, home of the 2019 Stanley Cup Champions.