New skills contest format: $1 million to the winner

The more time passes, the more it seems that the NHL All-Star Game is losing popularity.

The NHL tries new things year after year to boost fan interest, but it’s hard.

For example, last year in Florida… the skills competition was a disaster. The event seemed to be poorly organized, and the fact that competitions were held outdoors didn’t sit well with everyone.

So Gary Bettman and his assistants decided to innovate a little, with an all-new format to be presented in 2024.

12 players will take part in the skills competition, which will feature eight events. Each event won will allow players to collect points…

And whoever has the highest point total at the end of the evening will win a nice little cheque for one million dollars (US). Nothing less!

Here’s each event:

1. Fastest skater
2. Most powerful shot
3. Puck handling
4. Landing shots
5. Passing challenge
6. Shooting accuracy
7. Blocking shots
8. Obstacle course

This is really cool, for real.

Giving the winner a prize is going to make for a good show for the fans because the guys are going to want to win the jackpot.

Kind of reminds me of the NBA’s in-season tournament, though.

500,000 was distributed to all Los Angeles Lakers players for winning the tournament, and throughout the competition, the players gave it their all because they wanted the cash.

Bravo to the NHL. The league made a good move, and it’s the fans who will benefit.

As a final reminder, the draft formula will be making a comeback this year.

Highlights

– What a great story.

– Logical.

– Wow!

The Leafs’ bench didn’t know they were allowed to clear the bench for John Tavares’ 1000th point pic.twitter.com/PSrGTEViCE

– BarDown (@BarDown) December 13, 2023

– Matthews is already in his eighth season.