Vegas Golden Knights: 2020 NHL All-Star Game Primer
It is here! The 2020 Honda NHL All-Star Game in St. Louis takes place this weekend and the Vegas Golden Knights will be represented by Max Pacioretty.
One of the highlights of the regular season schedule is finally here and the Vegas Golden Knights will be taking part in the festivities in St. Louis this weekend.
Pacioretty will get a chance to showcase his talents in the city that is home of the Gateway Arch with the full force of the hockey media in town.
Granted, the Golden Knights should have had more representatives in at the All-Star Game this year, but Marc-Andre Fleury pulled out while Gerard Gallant was replaced as Head Coach of the Pacific Division by Arizona Coyotes bench boss Rick Tocchet after being fired by Vegas.
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However, this will be the first year in franchise history that Fleury hasn’t represented the Knights at the All-Star Game, and Pacioretty is deserving of his moment in the spotlight after a stellar regular season so far.
Through 52 games, Pacioretty leads Vegas in points with 47 (21 goals, 26 assists) and the forward will now get the chance to strut his stuff for the Pacific Division alongside the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
This will also be Pacioretty’s first taste of the All-Star festivities and it will be a lot of fun to watch the veteran take it all in.
Now, it is important to note that Pacioretty won’t take part in any of the events during the NHL All-Star Skills, which will take place on Friday at Enterprise Center.
He will, however, take part in the Bud Light NHL Save Streak, an event that will see all 36 skaters take part in a shootout with the goalie who makes the most consecutive saves winning the event.
Pacioretty’s shining moment will come in the NHL All-Star Game on Saturday, a three-game tournament played at three-on-three, with the winning Division taking home a $1 million prize pool.
It will be a hell of a lot of fun to see Pacioretty buzzing around on the ice with the likes of Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid and Vancouver Canucks rookie Quinn Hughes, and the rest of the NHL world will get to see firsthand Pacioretty’s sheer talents.
Let’s now delve into the nitty gritty of the full schedule for the 2020 NHL All-Star Game in St. Louis, while highlighting a couple of new and fun events to watch out for…
Media Day
All participants in the 2020 NHL All-Star Game will be meeting with the media in St. Louis on Thursday ahead of the festivities getting underway on Thursday.
This will give players a chance to talk to the media in a more relaxed setting and look ahead to a fun few days, including our very own Max Pacioretty who will no doubt be eager to get his very first All-Star experience underway.
NHL Fan Fair
The NHL will be hosting a Fan Fair across the weekend in St. Louis at Union Station, and we’ve listed the details below:
Thurs, Jan 23 – 3pm-10pm
Fri, Jan 24 – 3pm-10pm
Sat, Jan 25 – 10am-7pm
Sun, Jan 26 – 10am-4pm
Some of the highlights of the NHL Fan Fair include a picture with the Stanley Cup, which was of course won by the St. Louis Blues last year, a Meet & Greet session with current NHL players and a chance to meet NHL mascots, including Vegas Golden Knights Mascot Chance.
All-Star Friday Night
The fun gets underway on Friday night with the red carpet arrivals of the 2020 NHL All-Star participants, and Vegas Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty will get chance to strut his stuff in his best clobber.
Then, the 2020 Honda NHL All-Star weekend will be officially opened by the band O.A.R, with all the fun taking place near Enterprise Center on 14th and Market Streets.
All-Star Skills Competition
This is where the fun and games really begin.
Once the players have walked on the Red Carpet and greeted fans, they will head straight to the locker room ready for the showcase event of the weekend.
One of the most fun parts of the weekend to watch, the Skills competition will start at 8:00 p.m. ET with some new events to look out for.
Here is the full slate of Skill events set to take place:
- Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater
- Bud Light NHL Save Streak
- Honda NHL Accuracy Shooting
- Elite Women’s 3-on-3 presented by adidas
- Enterprise NHL Hardest Shot
- Gatorade NHL Shooting Stars
All of the Skill Contests will be a lot of fun to watch, even though Max Pacioretty isn’t set to take part in any of the events, and I’m incredibly excited to watch Shea Weber unleash his bomb of a shot during the Hardest Shot challenge.
But, one event I’m really looking forward to is the Elite Women’s 3-on-3 game, that will pit the elite of the American team against Canada’s elite, including the likes of Amanda Kessel, Hilary Knight, Sarah Nurse and Natalie Spooner.
The 3-on-3 game will consist of two 10-minute periods and it could well end up being the highlight of the entire weekend. It was really cool of the NHL to introduce this event for this year.
Let’s quickly run through the participants for each event:
NHL Fastest Skater
- Jack Eichel (Buffalo Sabres)
- Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche)
- Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers)
- Mathew Barzal (New York Islanders)
- Chris Kreider (New York Rangers)
- Anthony Duclair (Ottawa Senators)
- Travis Konecny (Philadelphia Flyers)
- Quinn Hughes (Vancouver Canucks)
NHL Save Streak (All 36 skaters will take part)
- David Rittich (Calgary Flames)
- Tristan Jarry (Pittsburgh Penguins)
- Jordan Binnington (St. Louis Blues)
- Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning)
- Frederik Andersen (Toronto Maple Leafs)
- Jacob Markstrom (Vancouver Canucks)
- Braden Holtby (Washington Capitals)
- Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets)
NHL Accuracy Shooting
- Jaccob Slavin (Carolina Hurricanes)
- Tyler Bertuzzi (Detroit Red Wings)
- Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers)
- Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida Panthers)
- Nico Hischier (New Jersey Devils)
- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks)
- Alex Pietrangelo (St. Louis Blues)
- Mark Scheifele (Winnipeg Jets)
Elite Women’s 3-on-3
American All-Stars (Hometown)
- Kacey Bellamy (D)
- Alex Carpenter (F)
- Kendall Coyne (F)
- Brianna Decker (F)
- Amanda Kessel (F)
- Hilary Knight (F)
- Jocelyn Lamoureux-Davidson (F)
- Annie Pankowski (F)
- Alex Rigsby (G)
- Lee Stecklein (D)
Canadian All-Stars (Hometown)
- Meghan Agosta (F)
- Melodie Daoust (F)
- Ann-Renee Desbiens (G)
- Renata Fast (D)
- Laura Fortino (D)
- Rebecca Johnston (F)
- Sarah Nurse (F)
- Marie-Philip Poulin (F)
- Natalie Spooner (F)
- Blayre Turnbull (F)
NHL Hardest Shot
- Mark Giordano (Calgary Flames)
- Seth Jones (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Shea Weber (Montreal Canadiens)
- Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
- Elias Pettersson (Vancouver Canucks)
- John Carlson (Washington Capitals)
NHL Shooting Stars
This is also a new event and has been introduced in order to spark some significant interest into the All-Star Game.
It is a wacky idea that will see ten players positioned on an elevated platform behind the goal, 30 feet above the ice surface, where they will shoot pucks at various targets located on the ice.
It certainly has the potential to be a lot of fun to watch and it will be fascinating to see how it unfolds.
- Women’s Elite All-Star (CAN) – TBD
- Women’s Elite All-Star (USA) – TBD
- David Pastrnak (Boston Bruins)
- Matthew Tkachuk (Calgary Flames)
- Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks)
- Tyler Seguin (Dallas Stars)
- Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators)
- David Perron (St. Louis Blues)
- Ryan O’Reilly (St. Louis Blues)
- Mitchell Marner (Toronto Maple Leafs)
By the way, the decision to put both the Tkachuk brothers in this event is genius and it will be a lot of fun to see some sibling rivalry come to the fore.
After all, the All-Star Game is all about having fun and showing the lighter side of the National Hockey League.
2020 NHL All-Star Game
Time for the main event.
The Honda 2020 NHL All-Star Game will take place at Enterprise Center on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.
It will be the same format as in previous years, a three-game, three-on-three tournament between the four divisions – the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Metro and the Central.
The Atlantic and the Metro will face off in the Eastern Conference semi-final, while the Pacific and the Central will go up against each other in the Western Conference semi-final.
The winners of those games will then face each other in the final, with the winning division taking home a $1 million winner-take all prize pool.
All three games will run for 20-minutes and the entire Honda 2020 NHL All-Star Weekend televised on NBC, NBCSN, CBC, SN and TVAS, while American band Green Day will give us a dollop of nostalgia as the halftime entertainment.
Here are the 2020 NHL All-Star Rosters:
Atlantic Division
- David Pastrnak – Captain (Boston Bruins)
- Tyler Bertuzzi (Detroit Red Wings)
- Anthony Duclair (Ottawa Senators)
- Jack Eichel (Buffalo Sabres)
- Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida Panthers)
- Mitchell Marner (Toronto Maple Leafs)
- Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators)
- Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
- Shea Weber (Montreal Canadiens)
- Frederik Andersen (Toronto Maple Leafs)
- Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Metro Division
- Kris Letang – Captain (Pittsburgh Penguins)
- Mathew Barzal (New York Islanders)
- Nico Hischier (New Jersey Devils)
- Travis Konecny (Philadelphia Flyers)
- Chris Kreider (New York Rangers)
- T.J. Oshie (Washington Capitals)
- John Carlson (Washington Capitals)
- Seth Jones (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Jaccob Slavin (Carolina Hurricanes)
- Braden Holtby (Washington Capitals)
- Tristan Jarry (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Central Division
- Nathan MacKinnon – Captain (Colorado Avalanche)
- Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks)
- Ryan O’Reilly (St. Louis Blues)
- David Perron (St. Louis Blues)
- Mark Scheifele (Winnipeg Jets)
- Tyler Seguin (Dallas Stars)
- Eric Staal (Minnesota Wild)
- Roman Josi (Nashville Predators)
- Alex Pietrangelo (St. Louis Blues)
- Jordan Binnington (St. Louis Blues)
- Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets)
Pacific Division
- Connor McDavid – Captain (Edmonton Oilers)
- Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers)
- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks)
- Anze Kopitar (LA Kings)
- Max Pacioretty (Vegas Golden Knights)
- Elias Pettersson (Vancouver Canucks)
- Matthew Tkachuk (Calgary Flames)
- Mark Giordano (Calgary Flames)
- Quinn Hughes (Vancouver Canucks)
- Jacob Markstrom (Vancouver Canucks)
- David Rittich (Calgary Flames)
So, there you go, that’s your 2020 NHL All-Star Game primer featuring everything you could possibly wish to know.
Next. Third period collapse, other takeaways from Boston. dark
Now, let the fun and games begin!