Hertl clowns hometown goalie in skills event
ST. LOUIS >> Sharks forward Tomas Hertl said he was going to enjoy his first NHL All-Star Game this weekend in St. Louis, and he was true to his word. Hertl’s most memorable moment, though, didn’t happen in the skills event he was competing in Friday at Enterprise Center.
Hertl, part of the Pacific Division team, had some fun during the goalie save streak competition, as he donned a Justin Bieber mask prior to his second shot on St. Louis Blues netminder Jordan Binnington.
Earlier this month, Binnington challenged Bieber on social media, saying if the pop singer could score on him once in 10 shootout attempts, he would dye his hair platinum blonde. Bieber accepted the challenge, suggesting instead that the loser donates money to the winner’s favorite charity. It appears the event will take place sometime this summer.
Hertl may not have been able to see too well out of the mask, and his shot attempt — where he tried to go forehand to backhand — resulted in an easy stop for Binnington, who later won the event with a save streak of 10.
Hertl was actually competing in the Accuracy Shooting event, where players were positioned 25 feet from the goal line and shot pucks at five target images that appear on an LED screen placed on the goal line.
On his turn, Hertl hit the first four targets he shot at, but needed nine shots to hit the fifth target. He finished with a time of 17.161 seconds to finish seventh in the eight-man competition that was won by Jaccob Slavin of the Carolina Hurricanes in 9.505 seconds. KARLSSON MAKES ALL-DECADE TEAM >> Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson, who twice won the Norris Trophy in the 2010s, was a second-team selection on the NHL’s All-Decade Team, announced by the league.
Karlsson won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman in 2012 and 2015 when he was with the Ottawa Senators. From Jan. 1, 2010 to Dec. 31, 2019, Karlsson led all defensemen with 453 assists and 585 points. The NHL chose three forwards, two defensemen and one goalie for each of the two teams selected.
On the first team were forwards Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks, Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, defensemen Duncan Keith of the Blackhawks and Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings, and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Joining Karlsson on the second team were forwards Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins and Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins. The other defenseman chosen was Zdeno Chara, also of the Bruins. The second team goalie was Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers. GRETZKY BELIEVES IN OVECHKIN >> Wayne Gretzky said he believes Alex Ovechkin has “a real legitimate chance” to skate past him for the NHL record in goals. What’s more, “The Great One” said he wants a front-row seat to watch “The Great Eight” should it happen.
While Ovechkin (692 goals) still has a ways to go to catch Gretzky (894), the latter told NHL.com that he has no issues with his goal-scoring record being broken.
KINGS HIRE PARALYZED HOCKEY PLAYER >> Jack Jablonski’s dream of joining an NHL organization was realized, when the Los Angeles Kings had him sign a contract this week, eight-plus years after he was paralyzed in a high school hockey game in Minnesota.
The recent USC graduate will use his communications degree as a content coordinator.