Hockey’s all-stars face new skill tests

TAMPA, FLA. Along with the hardest shot, the most accurate shot and the fastest skater, the NHL is unveiling three new events at this year’s all-star skills competition. Here’s what you need to know.

SAVE STREAK

If you can’t beat ’em, showcase ’em. Rather than put the attention on the shooters in the breakaway challenge, the NHL is flipping the script and trying to find which goalie can stop the most consecutive breakaway attempts.

“If a guy saves two in a row, it’s not going to be amazing,” said Steve Mayer, the NHL’s chief content officer. “But if he starts to save one after the other and the crowd starts to react with every save, it’s going to be awesome.

“I think the goalies are going to have fun and egg on the shooters a little bit.”

PUCK CONTROL

There’s three stages: stickhandling around pucks, manoeuvring around cones and then blasting through a series of gates that randomly light up, forcing the players to corner either left or right on a dime. My ankles hurt just thinking about it.

“You’ll see these guys control the puck like it’s attached to their stick,” said Mayer. “You don’t have to be a fan at all to understand what they’re doing.”

PASSING ACCURACY

This is another three-stage competition: Players will have to pass to a target that is randomly lit up, execute a give-and-go pass and then feed pucks into pint-sized nets that would impress a PGA Tour golfer.

“You have to make a split-second decision and hit the target,” Mayer said. “Not only do you have to be accurate, but you have to make a decision of where to pass the puck in a blink of an eye.”