Carter/Doughty skills competition events; FSW All-Star Saturday Show

Several notes, followed by an NHL press release:

At tomorrow’s skills competition, Drew Doughty will participate in the Hardest Shot and the passing portion of the Skills Challenge, and Jeff Carter will take part in the Accuracy Challenge and the one-timer portion of the Skills Challenge. The event, which begins at 4:00 p.m. PT, will be shown on NBCSN. Interestingly, Doughty had shared that he doesn’t think he has the hardest shot on his own team when we spoke casually on the subject last year, deferring such honors to Jake Muzzin, Alec Martinez and Matt Greene. I’m sure he’ll do fine. Jeff Carter taking part in the accuracy shooting contest? Sounds good to me.

Also, FOX Sports West will air an All Star Saturday Show as a lead-in to the skills competition from 2:30 to 4:00, and I’ll be interviewing participants from ice level at the Celebrity Shootout while Bob Miller, Patrick O’Neal and Sean O’Donnell will drive the program from the FOX Sports West stage at Staples Center, and Daryl Evans will be on site as well. Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux are the coaches of the two teams, which will be filled with both celebrities and players from the NHL 100 celebration.

More information on the events and the format of the skills competition is located below, courtesy of the NHL.

PLAYER ASSIGNMENTS MADE FOR 2017 COORS LIGHT NHL ALL-STAR SKILLS COMPETITION™

LOS ANGELES (Jan. 27, 2017) – The National Hockey League announced today the All-Star assignments for Saturday’s 2017 Coors Light NHL All-Star Skills Competition™ at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. A fan favorite that has showcased hockey’s top talent at NHL All-Star Weekend since 1990, the event will be broadcast live on NBCSN in the U.S. and on CBC, Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT.

The top stars from the Atlantic and Metropolitan Divisions will compete against the Pacific and Central Divisions throughout the night for points in the overall division vs. division competition to determine opponent and start time of their first game on Sunday. Individual champions also will be crowned.

Fan-elected captains, Carey Price of the Atlantic Division, and P.K. Subban of the Central Division, Sidney Crosby of the Metropolitan Division and Connor McDavid of the Pacific Division, guided the team selection process to determine which players will participate in the six 2017 Coors Light NHL All-Star Skills Competition™ events. Each of the 44 All-Stars will compete in at least one of the six rounds of skill-based contests:

· Gatorade NHL Skills Challenge Relay™
· Honda NHL Four Line Challenge™
· DraftKings NHL Accuracy Shooting™
· Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater™
· Oscar Mayer NHL Hardest Shot™
· Discover NHL Shootout™

Gatorade NHL Skills Challenge Relay™
This timed relay event – involving seven skaters and one goalie from each team – will consist of four relays with five challenges each: (1) One Timers, with three shooters and one passer per team; (2) Passing, with one passer per team; (3) Puck Control, with one skater per team; (4) Stick-Handling, with one skater per team; and (5) Goalie Goals, with one goalie per team.

Each skill must be completed before moving on to the next challenge with the exception of one timers (a maximum of 30 seconds will be allocated), passing (a maximum of 45 seconds will be allocated) and goalie goals (a maximum of 30 seconds will be allocated). The goal is to finish all five challenges faster than the opponent.
There will be two heats:

Central Division vs. Pacific Division
One Timers: Keith, Suter, Tarasenko Pavelski, Kesler, Carter
Passers: MacKinnon, Horvat
Passing: Toews, Doughty
Puck Control: Seguin, Fowler
Stick-Handling: Kane, Gaudreau
Goalie Goals: Dubnyk, Smith

Atlantic Division vs. Metropolitan Division
One Timers: Karlsson, Trocheck, Okposo S. Jones, Ovechkin, Simmonds
Passers: Hedman, McDonagh
Passing: Nielsen, Tavares
Puck Control: Marchand, Faulk
Stick-Handling: Matthews, Crosby
Goalie Goals Price, Holtby

Points Available: 3 – The team with the fastest time in each heat scores one point; the team with the fastest overall time scores one bonus point.

Honda NHL Four Line Challenge™
This event involves four shooters from each team. Each shooter will shoot from one of four shooting positions; near blue line, center line, far blue line and far goal line. The first shooter from each team takes two shots from the near blue line in an attempt to score goals in either the upper left or upper right corner of the net. Successful shots score one point for their team. The second shooter from each team takes two shots from center ice in an attempt to score goals in one of the four corners of the net. Successful shots in the lower corners score one point and successful shots in the upper corners score three points for their team. The third shooter from each team takes two shots from the far blue line in an attempt to score a goal in one of the four corners of the net or the five hole. Successful shots in the lower corners or five hole score one point and successful shots in the upper corners score five points for their team. The fourth shooter from each team takes two shots from the far goal line in an attempt to score a goal in the five hole. Successful shots score 10 points for their team. Captains can substitute the fourth shooter with a goalie. A successful shot by a goalie is awarded 20 points for their team.

Atlantic – Metropolitan – Central – Pacific
Shooter 1 Kucherov – McDonagh – Suter – Pavelski
Shooter 2 Karlsson – Simmonds – Seguin – Burns
Shooter 3 Trocheck – Hall – Subban – Kesler
Shooter 4 Weber – S. Jones – MacKinnon – Horvat

Points Available: 1 – The Team with most points at end of event scores one point.

DraftKings NHL Accuracy Shooting™
Two shooters from each team will participate, with two additional players serving as passers. This event will consist of four head-to-head match-ups, with one shooter from each team per round. The goal is to hit four 15-inch diameter targets located in each corner of the net. The teams will be situated at opposite ends of the rink, and will alternate attempts. The shooter to hit all four targets in the fastest time wins.

Atlantic Division vs. Metropolitan Division
Okposo – Tavares
Matthews – Crosby

Central Division vs. Pacific Division
Laine – McDavid
Kane – Carter

Points Available: 6 –The winner of each match-up scores one point; the player who hits all four targets in the fastest time scores the bonus point for his team. If a player breaks Daniel Sedin’s record of 7.3 seconds, they score one bonus point for their team.

Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater™
Two players from each team will test their speed, facing off against an opponent in a two-skater race. The race track for the head-to-head match-ups is the border of the rink split in half lengthways. Timing devices will record each skater to determine the winner of each match. If a race ends in a tie, each of the teams will be awarded one point. The skater with the fastest time in the head-to-head match-ups will skate a full lap of the outside border of the rink, in the direction of their choosing, in an attempt to break Dylan Larkin’s record (13.172 seconds). If, at the completion of the event, two skaters are tied for the fastest overall time, both skaters will skate a full lap of the rink in an attempt to break the historical best record.

Atlantic Division vs. Metropolitan Division
Marchand – Atkinson
Kucherov – Hall

Central Division vs. Pacific Division
Tarasenko – Horvat
MacKinnon – McDavid

Points Available: 6 – The winner of each match-up scores one point; the team with the fastest skater scores a bonus point; if the fastest skater is successful in breaking Dylan Larkin’s record of 13.172 seconds, an additional bonus point will be awarded to his team.

Oscar Mayer NHL Hardest Shot™
Two shooters from each team will test their slap shot skill in a head-to-head match-up. Each player will attempt two shots, with teams alternating after each player. One puck will be placed 30 feet from the center of the net. Each shot will be calculated in miles per hour (mph), with the highest speed of their two shots recorded.

Atlantic Division vs. Metropolitan Division
Hedman – S. Jones
Weber – Ovechkin

Central Division vs. Pacific Division
Laine – Burns
Subban – Doughty

Points Available: 6 – The winner of each match-up scores one point; the team with the player who has the hardest shot scores one bonus point; if a player breaks Zdeno Chara’s record of 108.8 mph, they score one bonus point for their team.

Discover NHL Shootout™
Nine skaters and two goaltenders from each of the top-scoring teams from the Eastern Conference and Western Conference will participate. Captains of respective teams will choose one additional skater from the other team in their conference. The scoreboard will be reset to 0-0 prior to the start of the Discover NHL Shootout™. Goals scored count as one point. The captains’ selections from the losing teams will be designated Discover puck players, and goals scored by these players will count as two points. Goalies will switch after every five shooters. NHL shootout rules apply to each scoring attempt. If the teams are tied after 10 shooters, the shootout will continue in a sudden death format until a winner is determined. The Captains will select their next shooter before each shot. Players are eligible to shoot multiple times, without restriction.

Points Available: 1 point for every goal scored; 2 points for every goal scored with a Discover puck.

The Division winner of the 2017 Coors Light NHL All-Star Skills Competition™ will earn the right to select both their first opponent and when their 2017 Honda NHL® All-Star Game semi-final matchup will be played; first or second at Sunday’s 2017 Honda NHL® All-Star Game (3:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. PT, NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS). Visit NHL.com/AllStar for more information.

2017 NHL All-Star Celebrity Shootout™ (Coverage on FOX Sports West)
The 2017 NHL All-Star Celebrity Shootout™ will precede the 2017 Coors Light NHL All-Star Skills Competition™ at 2:15 p.m. PT. The game will pit a team of NHL legends against celebrities in a friendly matchup at STAPLES Center. Both teams will wear jerseys that will feature a patch dedicated to lifelong hockey fan and beloved TV actor Alan Thicke. The 2017 NHL All-Star Celebrity Shootout™ will benefit Echoes of Hope, a nonprofit organization founded by Luc and Stacia Robitaille, which strives to inspire hope in the lives of at-risk and emancipated foster youth. The organization assists youth in their pursuit of independence, empowerment and a post-secondary education. In 2016, Echoes of Hope assisted over 500 youth throughout the country.

The NHL All-Stars will take the ice for the 2017 Coors Light NHL All-Star Skills Competition™ at 4 p.m., immediately following the All-Star Celebrity Shootout. Fans with tickets to the 2017 Coors Light NHL All-Star Skills Competition™ will be able to enter STAPLES Center to enjoy the All-Star Celebrity Shootout at 2:15 p.m. PT. Doors open at 2 p.m. PT.