The festivities begin!
Welcome to the first day of the All-Star Weekend festivities, folks!
Consider this your open thread for the scheduled events for Thursday, plus whatever else you want to talk about.
What is NHL All-Star Thursday?
It’s not the Skills Competition! Or the game itself.
Instead, it’s “fun,” according to the league itself.
Tonight’s schedule features:
- The All-Star Player Draft, where Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, Jack Hughes, and Nathan MacKinnon will select their teams.
- The NHL Alumni Keith Magnuson Man of the Year, which will apparently celebrate the 1967 Stanley Cup champion Maple Leafs.
- The PWHL 3-on-3 Showcase, a mini All-Star Game of sorts featuring skaters from across the PWHL.
Is NHL All-Star Thursday televised?
Yes! Kind of.
The Player Draft is going to be shown on ESPN2 in the United States and on Sportsnet and TVAS in Canada.
The ESPN2 broadcast starts at 6 PM Eastern and, per my channel guide, ends at 7 PM, when college basketball comes on.
This leads me to believe that the PWHL portion won’t be televised, but I could be wrong about that.
When is the NHL Skills Competition?
That’s on Friday at 7 PM. It’ll be televised on ESPN, ESPN+, Sportsnet, and TVAS.
David Pastrnak will be competing in the One-Timer Challenge, the Hardest Shot Challenge, the Stickhandling Challenge, and the Accuracy Shooting Challenge.
The top-eight point earners from the first six events will then compete in the One-on-One Challenge, featuring Jeremy Swayman.
The top-six point earners after that will compete in the Obstacle Course.
Whoever has the most points after THAT wins $1 million. My head hurts.
So there you have it! Tune in for the Player Draft, hang out and discuss other things…the world is your oyster.
Discuss.