Here’s what to expect at NHL All-Star weekend in Las Vegas

Las Vegas is no stranger to hosting the NHL’s best and brightest.

The city held the league’s annual award show every year since 2009 except for 2013 and 2020. But commissioner Gary Bettman’s announcement that T-Mobile Arena will host the 2022 All-Star Game marks the first time fans will get to see the NHL’s best players on the same sheet of ice. The date of the game wasn’t announced, but it will be at the midway point of the regular season.

Get ready to see Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews mixing it up. And for Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin to play on the same team for once. It’s one of the few weekends the hockey community gets together to have fun and players try to win money.

So what happens during an NHL All-Star weekend? Here are the competitions that took place in 2020, starting with the skills competition the day before the game:

Fastest skater

Who can take a lap around the rink the quickest?

Skaters take turns going around the ice to see who can record the fastest time. Unsurprisingly, this event has belonged to McDavid, the Edmonton Oilers star, in recent years. He won it three straight years from 2017 to 2019 before being dethroned by New York Islanders center Mathew Barzal in 2020.

Barzal’s lap lasted 13.175 seconds. Winners of each skills competition event get $25,000.

Accuracy shooting

Who can knock down targets the fastest?

This event places five targets in an NHL net. Four are in the corners, and one is in the center. Whoever hits all of them in the least amount of time wins.

Several of the NHL’s most skilled players have won the competition in recent years, including Chicago Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane (2015), Pittsburgh Penguins center Crosby (2017) and Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (2019). Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin was a surprise winner in 2020 at 9.505 seconds.

Hardest shot

Who has the NHL’s fastest shot?

The event is pretty straightforward. Participants start at the blue line and skate to a puck below the tops of the circles but above the hash marks. They then try to line up and fire a shot as hard as they can.

Whichever shot gets clocked as the fastest win. Montreal Canadiens captain Shea Weber won the event in 2020 with a blast that reached 106.5 mph. The record belongs to defenseman Zdeno Chara at 108.8 mph.

Save streak

Which goaltender can last the longest?

In this event, each goaltender faces all the skaters from an opposing division in a shootout and tries to make as many saves as possible. If the goalie saves the division captain, who goes last, he keeps going until he fails to make a save.

The netminder who makes the most stops in a row wins. If there’s a tie, whoever made the most total saves wins.

Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury won the event in 2018 with 14 saves.

NHL shooting stars

Who can hit the most targets from an elevated shooting platform?

This was a new event in 2020. Players shot seven pucks from about 30 feet above the ice at nine targets, which had different point values. The platform was in the stands behind one of the nets. Four targets were above the faceoff circles, two were on the blue line and three on the center red line.

Whoever scores the most points wins. Kane claimed the first event with 22 points.

Elite women’s 3-on-3 hockey

Which women’s All-Star team is the best?

This was also a new competition in 2020, as the NHL invited 20 of the best women’s players in the world to play a 20-minute 3-on-3 game.

There were 10 American All-Stars and 10 Canadian All-Stars.

Team Canada won 2-1, coached by Seattle Kraken scout Cammi Granato.

All-Star Game

Which division’s All-Stars will come out on top?

The main event took on a new format in 2016.

The four divisions play one another in a single-elimination, 3-on-3 tournament to determine the winner. There are 10-minute halves, and the game proceeds directly to a best-of-three shootout if tied after regulation.

Knights coach Gerard Gallant led the Pacific Division to the 2018 championship with Vegas right wing James Neal on the roster. Knights left wing Max Pacioretty was part of the Pacific’s winning squad in 2020.

The first-place team gets $1 million.

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.