No player in the NHL "got more involved" than Oilers C Connor McDavid to help completely revised the competitive format for All-Star Weekend's Friday night showcase, according to Luke Fox of SPORTSNET.ca. The league "made a point" to survey its star players and "involve them in a creative process" that led to a winner-take-all $1M individual competition. NHL Chief Content Officer & Exec VP Steve Mayer "flew to Edmonton, sat down with McDavid," and "pored over ‘every single inch of this to get his feedback’ on the new streamlined skills format," debuting Feb. 2 at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena. Fox noted what is gone from the festivities are the standalone events and "lighthearted pre-taped contests of skills nights past,” adding there will be no dunk tanks, hockey-golf hybrids, or "oversized blackjack on the Vegas Strip.” The approved changes are only 12 skaters in the 2024 All-Star Skills "will compete for the $1-million prize." The first eight contestants "will be elite players selected from the larger pool of 44 all-stars.” Big names and big personalities “will be targeted,” as all players will be “mic'd up throughout the competition.” The final four contestants “will be voted into the competition by fans, who must select from the remaining pool of 32 all-stars.” 12 contestants then “participate in four of six events -- their choice" -- and "gather points toward winning the whole shebang.” Fox noted the six events "mix in traditional favourites with some new skills-based contests”: Fastest Skater, Hardest Shot, Stick Handling, One-Timers, Passing Challenge, and Accuracy Shooting (SPORTSNET.ca, 12/12).
OUT WITH THE OLD: THE HOCKEY NEWS’ Jacob Stoller wrote in a world where sports leagues “copy-cat one another, the NHL chose to stray from the norm and introduce a unique concept.” If all goes to plan, the different format “should bring out the best from 12 of the NHL's best players.” Stoller noted in years past, the league's all-star competition was “sort of a mixed bag in terms of effort level,” and the breakaway challenge “mimicked the NBA dunk contest in terms of theatrics.” With these "game-like competitions," fans at home and in the arena could “get to see the elite abilities of the competing all-stars” (THE HOCKEY NEWS, 12/12).
