Bedard could headline NHL All-Star skills competition for $1 million p…
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Bedard could headline NHL All-Star skills competition for $1 million prize originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The NHL announced a brand new All-Star skills competition set to debut at the 2024 All-Star Weekend in Toronto, in which 12 players will compete in multiple events for a $1 million prize.
Each player will choose to compete in four of the following six events to earn points based on where they finish in each event:
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Fastest skater
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Hardest shot
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Stick handling
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One-timers
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Passing challenge
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Accuracy shooting
The eight-highest point earners advance to the seventh event: The NHL shootout.
The shootout will feature all eight All-Star goaltenders, and each skater will choose which goalie they want to face.
Two players will be eliminated after the shootout, and the six remaining skaters will advance to the eighth and final event: The NHL obstacle course. Points in this round will be worth double.
The player with the most points after all eight events will be crowned champion and earn the $1 million prize.
“We wanted to do something that the players would have fun with and want to participate in,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said on “ESPN” on Tuesday.
Only NHL All-Stars will be eligible to compete in the skills competition, with the first eight skaters determined by the NHL’s hockey operations department and NHLPA. Fans will vote in the remaining four players.
With $1 million on the table, the league should have no problem convincing its stars to participate. Especially a guy like, say, Connor Bedard.
The Blackhawks’ rookie superstar is the perfect candidate for the inaugural competition. Since the day the Vegas Golden Knights hoisted the Stanley Cup back in June, the NHL has had a singular focus:
Make Connor Bedard a household name.
The league has made extraordinary — and long overdue — efforts to better promote its stars, particularly though its rights agreements with ESPN and Warner Bros Discovery Sports (formerly known as Turner Sports). This revamped, all-around…
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