NHL All Star SuperSkills Details Released

Arguably the most exciting part of the NHL All Star Weekend, the SuperSkills Competition, will have six events this year.  The NHL sent out a press release yesterday with all the details.

Not only will Team Staal will be facing Team Lidstrom for the All Star game, they will be competing against each other in these events as well.  Rookies will participate along with the regular All Stars.

Champions will be crowned in each of the six individual events, with Team Staal going against Team Lidstrom throughout the night for points in the overall team vs. team competition.

Team captains Eric Staal and Nicklas Lidstrom, along with their alternate captains, will lead the team selection process during the new NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft™ powered by Cisco on Jan. 28.  As Captains, Staal and Lidstrom also will set their team rosters for the Honda NHL SuperSkills®.  The selections of which players will participate in each event will be made on Saturday afternoon and order of participation will be determined by the Captains just before the start of each event.  Each All-Star will be involved in no more than three events, excluding the Discover NHL Elimination Shootout™, the event in which every player participates.

Staal will undoubtedly figure out a way to get Jeff Skinner on his team.

The six events are as follows:

·        Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater™
·        BlackBerry NHL Breakaway Challenge™
·        McDonald’s NHL Accuracy Shooting™
·        G Series NHL Skills Challenge Relay™
·        XM NHL Hardest Shot™
·        Discover NHL Elimination Shootout™

Details of each event are listed after the jump, along with links to sample videos.  Any predictions on who will do the best at each?

Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater™

During the Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater™, the first event of Honda NHL SuperSkills®, six players from each team will compete, including one Rookie and five All-Star skaters.  The contest will consist of six preliminary races with two players skating at one time taking one lap of the ice; the players from each team with the fastest time will then meet in one final match race.  A total of eight points are available – one each to the winner of the six individual races and two points to the winner of the final race.

To watch an EA Sports video on this skill, click here: http://bit.ly/eEOay4

BlackBerry NHL Breakaway Challenge™

The fan favorite BlackBerry NHL Breakaway Challenge™ returns again this year, the event Alex Ovechkin has made his own by taking home the title each of the first two years.  A test of the amount of creativity a player can insert into a breakaway, three shooters from each team – one Rookie and two All-Stars – and one goalie will participate.  Fans in-arena and watching on television in the U.S. and Canada will be able to vote for their favorite player by texting the number that corresponds to the player of their choice to 81812.  Each skater will attempt four shots – with no limits.  Shooters can start their attempt from anywhere with full access to the offensive zone, including behind the net.  NHL penalty shot rules do not apply.  The shooter with the highest fan vote will score four points for his team, second place will score three points and third place will score one point.

To watch an EA Sports video on this skill, click here: http://bit.ly/faMa8o

McDonald’s NHL Accuracy Shooting™

From 25 feet in front of the net, shooters take aim at four foam targets attached to the inner side of the goalposts. The objective is to hit all of the targets in the fastest time.  A total of six players from each team, including one Rookie and five All-Stars, will compete, with two additional All-Stars from each team serving as the all-important passers.  A total of eight points are available.  The winner of each match scores one point.  The players with the fastest time from each team will go head-to-head in the final round for the title of the NHL’s most accurate shooter and two additional team points.  

To watch an EA Sports video on this skill, click here: http://bit.ly/gilXBa

G Series NHL Skills Challenge Relay™

This new event for 2011 will feature 16 players from each team, including two Rookies and fourteen All-Stars, in an all-around competition that will showcase the one-timer, passing, puck control, stick-handling and accuracy shooting in four exciting relays.  In the one-timer event, three shooters (with the assistance of one passer) must score three goals over an eight inch barrier; in the passing event, one passer must complete a pass into each of the six nets set up around the rink; in the puck control event, one skater will skate through a series of cones while keeping possession of the puck; in the stick handling event, one skater will control the puck through a series of obstacles; and in the accuracy shooting event, one player will take aim at four targets.  Each skill must be completed before moving on to the next skill in this timed relay event worth a total of eight points. Four groups will go through the relay – two for each team.  The group with the fastest time will score four points, second place will score three points and third place will score one point.

To watch an EA Sports video on this skill, click here: http://bit.ly/h5JfV4

XM NHL Hardest Shot™

Bruins blueliner Zdeno Chara not only won his third consecutive XM NHL Hardest Shot™ competition in 2009, but his blast of 105.4 miles an hour broke the all-time record previously held by Al Iafrate and set in 1993.  The event returns this year as six players from each team, including one Rookie and five All-Stars, compete in six head-to-head matches.  Two players will square off in each round, valued at one point each.  The highest recorded shot (by radar in mph) will earn one point for his team.  The players from each team with the hardest single shot will meet in a final match, with two points scored to the winner, to determine the NHL’s hardest shooter.

To watch an EA Sports video on this skill, click here: http://bit.ly/hqufiO

Discover NHL Elimination Shootout™

The battle between Team Staal and Team Lidstrom will be ultimately decided as all of the All-Stars and Rookies compete in the Discover NHL Elimination Shootout™, a time-honored game of "hockey survivor."  Shooters who score will move on to the next round in the shootout, with the All-Star goalies rotating after every third shooter.  Rounds of the shootout will continue until only one player scores and the other(s) don’t; the last scoring shooter wins.  Every goal scored will count as one point for his team.

To watch an EA Sports video on this skill, click here: http://bit.ly/i4ctxe

2011 NHL All-Star Weekend

The 2011 NHL All-Star Game presented by Discover will mark the first time Carolina has hosted NHL All-Star activities. The excitement begins on Friday, Jan. 28 with the NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft powered by Cisco and televised live nationwide on TSN and RDS in Canada and VERSUS in the U.S. at 8 p.m. ET from NHL Fan Fair™ at the Raleigh Convention Center.  On Saturday, Jan. 29, the players will take the ice in the Honda NHL SuperSkills® at the RBC Center. The League’s mid-season spectacular concludes with the 58th NHL All-Star Game presented by Discover at the RBC Center on Sunday, Jan. 30.  Live television coverage of both nights will be provided by VERSUS in the U.S. and CBC and RDS in Canada, with the Honda NHL SuperSkills® at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday and the 2011 NHL All-Star Game presented by Discover at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday.  Fans in Raleigh are encouraged to take part in the festivities at NHL Fan Fair™, a three-day fan festival at the Raleigh Convention Center, January 28-30.

Our friends at Versus also sent us some information, including a video of their All Star Weekend commercial. 

The Fantasy Draft will air live at 8pm on Friday, January 28^th, The Honda SuperSkills® will begin at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, and the 2011 NHL All-Star Game will start at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, all on Versus.

Check out the video below: