The Skills Competition, often the most talked about and enjoyed part of NHL All-Star weekend (although now CBA debates seem to be creeping closer to the most talked about aspect). For several years now, the top players in the NHL put their pride on the line and go head-to-head in the Skills to put on a show for the fans, as well as to try to get their name in the record books. The most recent one, held Saturday night, was no exception. Although there were no records broken, there was a new winner in every competition, something that hasn’t been done in quite some time. We’ll now run through the various events of the Skills, to see where our winners fit in compared with the results of years past. We’ll also see what conference has been the most dominant over the years of the competition (see scores after each chart.)
First, let’s start with the Puck Control Relay. In 2003, Tampa Bay’s Martin St. Louis ended then Anaheim’s Paul Kariya’s 4 year winning streak. But would St. Louis begin a winning streak of his own? Well, no, not officially, that honour goes to Columbus’ Rick Nash. But it was clear to all that watched on Saturday that St. Louis was indeed the fastest, but was unable to win because he was not involved in the individual race. Now, let’s look at the results from prior years:
| Year | Winner | Team/Conference |
| 1994 | Russ Courtnall | Dallas-Western |
| 1995 | NO ALL-STAR GAME | N/A |
| 1996 | Pierre Turgeon | Montreal-Eastern |
| 1997 | Geoff Sanderson | Hartford-Eastern |
| 1998 | Teemu Selanne | Anaheim-Western |
| 1999 | Paul Kariya | Anaheim-Western |
| 2000 | Paul Kariya | Anaheim-Western |
| 2001 | Paul Kariya | Anaheim-Western |
| 2002 | Paul Kariya | Anaheim-Western |
| 2003 | Martin St. Louis | Tampa Bay-Eastern |
| 2004 | Rick Nash | Columbus-Western |
Note: These are the winners of the individual race, held after the 3 on 3 team races.
Winner: Western Conference, 7-3.
Score through 1 event: West 7, East 3
Now, let’s move on to the Fastest Skater challenge. This is the only event in the history of the Skills competition to not have the same player win back-to-back times. There have been multiple winners, but never the same one 2 years in a row. Minnesota’s Marian Gaborik was the defending champion, however, he was not invited to the game this season, so there was a “new” champion, Scott Niedermayer of New Jersey. Here are the results from years past:
| Year | Winner | Time | Team/Conference |
| 1992 | Sergei Fedorov | 14.363 | Detroit-Western |
| 1993 | Mike Gartner | 13.510 | New York R.-Eastern |
| 1994 | Sergei Fedorov | 13.525 | Detroit-Western |
| 1995 | NO ALL-STAR GAME | N/A | N/A |
| 1996 | Mike Gartner | 13.386 | Toronto-Eastern |
| 1997 | Peter Bondra | 13.610 | Washington-Eastern |
| 1998 | Scott Niedermayer | 13.560 | New Jersey-Eastern |
| 1999 | Peter Bondra | 14.640 | Washington-Eastern |
| 2000 | Paul Kariya | 13.649 | Anaheim-Western |
| 2001 | Bill Guerin | 13.690 | Boston-Eastern |
| 2002 | Sami Kapanen | 14.039 | Carolina-Eastern |
| 2003 | Marian Gaborik | 13.713 | Minnesota-Western |
| 2004 | Scott Niedermayer | 13.783 | New Jersey-Eastern |
Note: The time in bold represents the all-time record in this particular competition.
Winner: Eastern Conference, 8-4
Score through 2 events: East 11, West 11
On to event #3, the Hardest Shot contest. Again, last year’s winner Al MacInnis, was not invited to participate, so there was going to be a new winner. However, there were a pair of new winners. Who? The chart below has it all…
| Year | Winner(s) | Speed (MPH) | Team/Conference |
| 1990 | Al Iafrate | 96.0 | Toronto-Western |
| 1991 | Al MacInnis | 94.0 | Calgary-Western |
| 1992 | Al MacInnis | 93.0 | Calgary-Western |
| 1993 | Al Iafrate | 105.2 | Washington-Eastern |
| 1994 | Al Iafrate | 102.7 | Washington-Eastern |
| 1995 | NO ALL-STAR GAME | N/A | N/A |
| 1996 | Dave Manson | 98.0 | Winnipeg-Western |
| 1997 | Al MacInnis | 98.9 | St. Louis-Western |
| 1998 | Al MacInnis | 100.4 | St. Louis-Western |
| 1999 | Al MacInnis | 98.5 | St. Louis-Western |
| 2000 | Al MacInnis | 99.9 | St. Louis-Western |
| 2001 | Fredrik Modin | 102.1 | Tampa Bay-Eastern |
| 2002 | Sergei Fedorov | 101.5 | Detroit-Western |
| 2003 | Al MacInnis | 98.9 | St. Louis-Western |
| 2004 | S. Souray, A. Aucoin | 102.2 | MON, NYI-Eastern |
Notes: The speed in bold represents the all-time record in this particular competition. In 1990, Toronto was a Western Conference team.
Winner: Western Conference, 10-4
Score through 3 events: West 21, East 15
Time for event number 4, the Accuracy Shooting contest. Last year’s champion Jeremy Roenick of Philadelphia, hit 4 of 6 targets, and was eligible to win again, as he was named to the Eastern team. But did he repeat? In a nutshell, yes, but did he improve? Look below for your answer…
| Team | Winner(s) | Results | Team-Conference |
| 1990 | Ray Bourque | 4/7 | Boston-Eastern |
| 1991 | Mark Messier | 4/4 | Edmonton-Western |
| 1992 | Ray Bourque | 4/4 | Boston-Eastern |
| 1993 | Ray Bourque | 4/4 | Boston-Eastern |
| 1994 | Brendan Shanahan | 4/5 | Detroit-Western |
| 1995 | NO ALL-STAR GAME | N/A | N/A |
| 1996 | Mark Messier | 4/4 | New York R.-Eastern |
| 1997 | Ray Bourque | 4/7 | Boston-Eastern |
| 1998 | R. Bourque, P. Forsberg, B. Shanahan | 4/6 | BOS-East, COL, DET-West* |
| 1999 | R. Bourque, J. Roenick, K. Tkachuk | 4/6 | BOS-East, PHX-West (x2)* |
| 2000 | R. Bourque, V. Kozlov | 4/5 | BOS, FLA-East |
| 2001 | Ray Bourque | 4/6 | Colorado-Western |
| 2002 | M. Naslund, J. Iginla | 4/6 | VAN, CAL-West |
| 2003 | Jeremy Roenick | 4/6 | Philadelphia-Eastern |
| 2004 | Jeremy Roenick | 4/4 | Philadelphia-Eastern |
Note: The score in bold represents the all-time record in this particular competition. Where there are multiple winners, the “goal” is awarded to the conference with the most winners.
Winner: Eastern Conference, 8-6
Score through 4 events: West 27, East 23
Now, on to the final event of “this” competition, the Breakaway Relay, or as I like to call it, a goalie’s nightmare. The winners in this events are the goaltenders, based on the number of goals that they allow. Last year’s winner, Patrick Roy, has since retired, meaning that there would be a new winner, like many of the other events. There were a pair of winners this season, both from the East. Who were they? Look below…
| Year | Winner(s) | GA | Team-Conference |
| 1991 | Mike Vernon | 1 | Calgary-Western |
| 1992 | M. Richter, D. Beaupre | 1 | NYR, WAS-East |
| 1993 | J. Casey, M. Vernon, E. Belfour | 1 | MIN, CAL, CHI-West |
| 1994 | Curtis Joseph | 0 | St. Louis-Western |
| 1995 | NO ALL-STAR GAME | N/A | N/A |
| 1996 | Dominik Hasek | 0 | Buffalo-Eastern |
| 1997 | D. Hasek, G. Hebert | 1 | BUF-East, ANA-West* |
| 1998 | Dominik Hasek | 0 | Buffalo-Eastern |
| 1999 | Dominik Hasek | 1 | Buffalo-Eastern |
| 2000 | Tommy Salo | 1 | Edmonton-Western |
| 2001 | E. Nabokov, S. Burke | 1 | SJ, PHX-West |
| 2002 | D. Hasek, P. Roy | 1 | BUF-East, COL-West* |
| 2003 | Patrick Roy | 1 | Colorado-Western |
| 2004 | R. Luongo, M. Brodeur | 1 | FLA, NJ-East |
Note: The number of goals allowed in bold represents the all-time record in this particular competition. Where there are multiple winners, the “goal” is awarded to the conference with the most winners. *When there is a tie, 1 goal is awarded to each team.
Winner: Western Conference, 8-7
Final Score: West 35, East 30
(Only 5 events were counted, as the 6th event – this year the “In the Zone” event, changes too fequently to be counted in this particular competition.)
So, the West has won, no surprise there, considering the East seldomly wins in the Skills competition. However, it all could change as early as next season, if the East wins 5 of 6 events as they did on Saturday. That being said, the real winners here are the fans, as they get to see the stars of the league all at the same time. And isn’t that what the All-Star weekend is for anyways, the fans?
Questions/comments? E-mail me at b.larose@habsworld.net.
Statistics courtesy of NHL.com
For those of you wondering what the answer to the trivia question was last week, it was B – Andrei Markov.