Connor McDavid won the fastest skater competition once again, but Kendall Coyne Schofield won over the crowd.
The US women’s ice hockey star on Friday night became the first woman ever to compete in the NHL All-Star skills competition, racing around the rink in a time competitive with the top skaters in the men’s game.
“The crowd was electrifying,” Coyne Schofield said. “To hear the ‘USA’ chants, everyone erupted when I started. Definitely gave me some momentum and the adrenaline was pumping.”
Photo: Stan Szeto, USA Today
Coyne Schofield was the first skater to take the ice and finished her lap in 14.346 seconds, impressing the NHL’s biggest stars with her speed.
“When she took off, I was like: ‘Wow,’” McDavid said after winning his third fastest skater competition. “I thought she might have won the way she was moving. She was a really good skater and that was an amazing thing for the game to see her participate like that in an event like this.”
The 26-year-old Coyne Schofield plays for the Minnesota Whitecaps of the National Women’s Hockey League and won an Olympic gold medal for the US in February last year.
She found out earlier on Friday that she had gotten the chance when Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon pulled out with an injury. She had previously been invited to All-Star weekend with other women’s players from US and Canadian teams, but now had the chance to perform on the big stage.
“My first impression was: ‘I can do this,’” she said. “My speed is definitely my strength. Obviously, I was a little nervous. I knew it was a moment that could break a lot of barriers and a moment that would change the perception of our game and show support to our game.”
She finished seventh out of eight skaters, beating Arizona forward Clayton Keller’s time of 14.526 seconds.
“She beat me, so she’s doing something right,” Keller said. “She’s really fast. I was surprised. It was great to see that. It was a great experience for the NHL to have her do that event. It was really cool.”
McDavid skated last and finished his lap in 13.378 seconds, edging Buffalo’s Jack Eichel (13.582) and the New York Islanders’ Mathew Barzal (13.780).
The other winners in the NHL All-Star skills competition were Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau in the puck control contest, the New York Rangers Henrik Lundqvist in the save streak competition, Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl in the premier passer contest, Washington’s John Carlson in the hardest shot and Boston’s David Pastrnak for accurate shooting.
Gaudreau narrowly beat out Chicago’s Patrick Kane in the puck control contest as the two were among the only contestants who made it through the course without a mishap. Gaudreau finished the course in 27.045 seconds, beating out Kane’s time of 28.611 seconds.
Carlson beat out local favorite Brent Burns for the hardest shot, recording the fastest two times at 165.5kph and 162.2kph.
Pastrnak finished the drill in 11.309 seconds to edge out Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang, who had a time of 12.693 seconds.
Toronto’s Auston Matthews drew big applause by donning the jersey of teammate Patrick Marleau, a long-time San Jose Shark, but finished last in the competition when he stopped briefly after hitting just four of the five targets.
“He’s such a legend here for everything he’s done for the city,” Matthews said. “All the chants made me so nervous, I forgot there were five targets.”
Also during All-Star weekend, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced that puck and player tracking is coming to the league next season.
The NHL is partnering with German company Jogmo World to put microchips on jerseys and inside game pucks. Antennas in all 31 arenas are to track data in real time.
The league is to join the NFL as North American sports leagues with wearable real-time tracking technology in games. The NBA and MLB use sophisticated systems that include radar and cameras.
Players have agreed to the tracking, but the NHL is not yet committing to a firm start date because officials say that testing is ongoing, but the league is confident enough in the accuracy of the radio frequency-based system and its application for 1,271 regular-season games and the playoffs.
“With the speed and complexity of hockey, it makes for an unparalleled on-ice product, but at the same time it also presents an incredible challenge, so as a league we have made significant investment to create new technology that quite literally did not exist,” Bettman said.
While the glowing puck is not coming back, this weekend is another test. NBC Sports in the US and Rogers Sportsnet in Canada yesterday night were to showcase tracking data with NBC featuring it as part of a digital-only broadcast of the three-on-three tournament.
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