All-star haters, I hope you made time to watch Saturday's skills competition to see our boy Brock Boeser earn first place in the shooting accuracy contest!
Boeser's time of 11.136 seconds allowed him to take over the lead from Brian Boyle of the New Jersey Devils. He also broke his last target, in the upper right, which led to a delay—and a chat with none other than Sidney Crosby.
Sid was still waiting for his turn in the competition. It wouldn't surprise me if he asked a question or two about how the new event format felt. Crosby's no stranger to Brock's shot, of course—Boeser's five goals and six points in his two career games against the Penguins are, by far, the most he has scored against any NHL team so far in his career.
When interviewed on TV about his strategy after the event, Boeser said he just tried to "whip it and rip it."
I'm guessing a little more went into it.
If you missed it, Minnesota beat writer Mike Russo of The Athletic posted a fantastic feature on Boeser earlier this weekend. It's unlocked on the subscription site—free for all to read as a carrot to try to get you to join.
I think his father Duke gives away the foundation for Brock's success:
"He’d go out on the driveway, and I’m not kidding, he’d be there for hours. His two favorite corners – upper left and upper right. He wouldn’t come in for supper unless he hit 10 or 15 in a row in each corner."
We've heard quite a lot about Boeser's upbringing and home life. Russo does an amazing job of putting the story together.
I also think Brock might have gotten a bit of a mental aid at the Vancouver airport on Friday morning, on his way out of town. From his
blog on Canucks.com:
It's funny, there's actually highlights from past all-star games on the TVs in the airport right now and they're showing Daniel Sedin's record setting four-for-four in 7.3 seconds in the accuracy event from 2011. What a sniper. Now that's intimidating. Watch me miss all the targets. What a nightmare.
It may have helped him to tune into the idea that what he does this weekend will be replayed in highlight packages for years to come.
In the end, here's how the shooting accuracy results shook down. The players are listed in order of appearance:
Brian Boyle, New Jersey Devils 11.626
Blake Wheeler, Winnipeg Jets 22.531
James Neal, Vegas Golden Knights 14.262
Brock Boeser, Vancouver Canucks 11.136
Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins 44.692
Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings 50.844
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins 15.851
Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning 21.923
There was only one event that involved players shooting on goalies—the new Save Streak Challenge. Boeser and his Pacific Division teammates shot on Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets, and Brock went first. Hellebuyck made the save the first time around, then Boeser ended his round by scoring on his second attempt.
True to form, Boeser has made it a priority to spend time with family this weekend.
Though Brock has yet to play against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Amalie Arena is turning out to be a good spot for him. In addition to his success this weekend, it's also where he won the NCAA Championship with North Dakota back in 2016. In
today's blog, Boeser said "I thought it was good omen that the stall I was set up in in the visitors room at Amalie Arena was the same one I sat in when I won the National Championship in 2016 with UND!"
The NHL chose to focus on individual players at the Skills Competition this weekend, rather than putting them into teams by division, conference....or schoolyard pick. That means Boeser earns $25,000 for his event win—small potatoes compared to those performance bonuses that he's racking up.
Boeser can collect a maximum of $850,000 this season if he hits on four of his Schedule A bonus categories.
Ryan Biech does a great job of breaking this down through the CBA and some smart thinking in another story in The Athletic—though this one's behind the paywall.
Based on Biech's assumptions, Boeser already has ticked off two categories—20 goals and an All-Star selection, each worth $212,500. He'll get a shot another this afternoon—All-Star Game MVP.
He'll also get a shot at bonuses for points per game (over 0.73—he's currently at 0.93), assists (needs 35—he's currently at 19), points (needs 60—he's currently at 43) and average ice time (needs to be top-six among forwards, he's currently tied for second). A bonus can also trigger for a spot on the all-rookie team.
Short version—it's almost guaranteed that Boeser will max out those bonuses this year. The way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised to see him challenge for the MVP title in the 3-on-3 games today.
The Pacific Division will take on the Central Division in the first round of the tournament, with puck drop scheduled for 1 p.m. PT.
The AHL is also holding its All-Star Classic this weekend, in Utica. Comets players Thatcher Demko and Reid Boucher are participating. Their skills competition goes Sunday at 5 p.m. PT, with coverage on Sportsnet, then the game is on Monday at 4 p.m. PT. Both events can also be streamed for free through the AHL website:
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