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Welcome to the 2020 NHL All-Star Game Weekend. The initial representative for the New Jersey Devils was Kyle Palmieri, who replaced Taylor Hall in 2019. Nico Hischier was the team’s representative for Last Man In fan vote for the Metropolitan Division team. He did not win that vote. However, Palmieri was injured in a recent game - so Hischier will be representing the Devils after all in St. Louis.
The weekend is split up between the All-Star Skills Competition, which is tonight; and the All-Star Game itself, which is tomorrow. This post will cover both and be a place for you to discuss the event as a whole.
The 2020 NHL All-Star Skills Competition
The Day: Friday, January 24
The Time: 8:00 PM ET
The Broadcast: TV - NBCSN, CBC, Sportsnet, TVA
The Devil Involved: Nico Hischier
The NHL Events: There are five this year: the hardest shot competition, the shooting stars contest, the save streak contest, the accuracy shooting contest, and the fastest skater contest. The shooting stars contest is new. Ten players - 8 NHL All Stars, 2 of the Women’s All Star Elite players - will be on a thirty-foot elevated platform and try to hit targets on the ice for points. It is an interesting concept.
The Non-NHL Event: There is a 3-on-3 “Elite” Women’s game between a Canadian and American team. Elite is an interesting descriptor. None of these players are from the National Women’s Hockey League. All of them come from the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association, who have largely boycotted the NWHL this season. It should be a fun exhibition all the same.
Which Event Will Have Nico Hischier?: Hischier will be in the accuracy shooting contest. The full list of participants for each event was released yesterday by the NHL.
The Song for the Competition: Competition? From the seminal Start Today, this is “Competition” by Gorilla Biscuits.
The 2020 NHL All-Star Game
The Day: Saturday, January 25
The Time: 8:00 PM ET
The Broadcast: TV - NBC, CBC, Sportsnet, TVAS
The Format: A 3-on-3 mini-tournament between the divisions. The winner gets a $1 million prize to split between the rosters.
The Matchups: There are three games. The first is the Atlantic Division vs. The Metropolitan Division, which includes Nico Hischier. The game has a start time of 8:15 PM ET.
The second game is the Central Division, featuring the hometown Blues vs. The Pacific Division. The game has a start time of 9:15 PM ET.
The winners of those two games play for the money. If I were to guess, it will start at 10:15 PM ET.
The Rosters: NHL.com not only has the rosters for each team but also lists who would go but is not due to injury or Alex Ovechkin and Marc-Andre Fleury not wanting to play in the least physical game in the NHL.
The Hope: No injuries! Not that anyone will work particularly hard tonight. It’s just a fun exhibition for the fans, the viewers, and the sponsors.
The Song for the All Star Game: In the mid-1990s, Walter Schreifles re-united Anthony “Civ” Civarelli, Arthur Smilios, and Sammy Siegler - who were all in Gorilla Biscuits - under the CIV name. Schreifles did not play on Set Your Goals, but he was the main songwriter and producer for the album. The song “Can’t Wait One Minute More” became a hit from the album. But there are plenty of other great tunes from the album. Such as “So Far, So Good...So What.”
The Rules: The rules remain the rules even for this weekend’s event put on by the league. Please keep your comments clean, legal (read: no streams, no links to streams, no asking for streams, no streams, no streams), and about the All-Star Skills Compeition, the All-Star Game, and/or Nico Hischier. Let’s respect each other, there’s no need for drama or unwelcome nature of any sort. Thank you for reading. Go Hischier!
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