Huberdeau and Brunette representing Panthers at All-Star Game. A look at the two-day event
The 2022 NHL All-Star Weekend is here.
The two-day event at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday with the skills competition portion of the event before the game itself — really three games tournament-style — take place starting at 3 p.m. Saturday. The skills competitions will be televised on ESPN, while the All-Star Game is being broadcast on ABC.
Two Florida Panthers will be in Vegas for the festivities. Winger Jonathan Huberdeau, who entered the break leading the NHL in points (64) and assists (47), is Florida’s lone player representative. Interim coach Andrew Brunette will coach the Atlantic Division team on Saturday.
“It’s going to be a unique experience,” Brunette said. “I’m looking forward to it. Looking forward to seeing Huby out there and just try to enjoy the weekend.”
The All-Star Game format consists of a three-game tournament pitting the NHL’s four divisions — Metropolitan, Atlantic, Central and Pacific — against each other. Each team has 11 players, nine skaters and two goaltenders.
The games will be 20-minute three-on-three contests, the same format the NHL has used for the All-Star Game since 2016. There will be a brief intermission after 10 minutes, and games tied at the end of 20 minutes will go to a shootout. The winner of each semifinal advances to the finals, and the overall winning team splits a prize pool of $1 million.
“It’s going to be fun,” Huberdeau said,” especially it being in Vegas. It’s probably going to be a big show. My family and a lot of friends are coming, so it’ll be a good time seeing some other guys from around the league — and the game is always fun, too.”
In addition to the game, the NHL also has a skills competition day on Friday, with seven different events taking place throughout the night. Those events:
▪ Breakaway Challenge: A panel of judges rate players shot attempts on breakaways.
▪ Fountain Faceoff: Taking place on Vegas’ Bellagio Fountains, players have to successfully shoot pucks into five targets. Huberdeau is competing in this event.
▪ Save streak: Goaltenders face all the opposing skaters in a marathon shootout. The goaltender with the longest save streak wins. Should there be a tie, the goaltender with the most total saves wins.
▪ Hardest shot: Skaters shoot a puck from 30 feet away from the net. Whoever records the fastest speed wins.
▪ Accuracy shooting: Skaters shoot pucks at targets attached to each corner of the goalpost after receiving passes from fellow skaters behind the net. Whoever successfully hits all four targets in the least amount of time wins.
▪ Las Vegas NHL 21 in ‘22: Blackjack meets hockey. A full deck of oversized cards will hand on a rack on Las Vegas Boulevard. Shooters will fire pucks at the cards, attempting to achieve a hand of 21 in the least number of shots. The first player to win two rounds is deemed “Puck Shark.”
▪ Fastest skater: Skaters make one lap around the T-Mobile Arena rink. Fastest time wins.
This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 11:49 AM.
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