[Andy]

About 20 minutes ’til our cab picks us up from the hotel here. I’ve aways wanted to be in attendance at a skills competition since I’ve watched it as a kid. Now I’ve got that chance, finally.

I’m not too pleased at all of the changes this year, though. For the most part, they’re decent, I suppose. However, I’m not too fond of the two, six minute period, Young-Stars game. I’m sure it hasn’t done too well in previous years, but can’t anything else be done for it? 12 minutes? Might as well just call it Mites on Ice.

I am really excited for the Shoot-Out changes. It’s now more of a “slam-dunk” type of event. With all of the surging talent in the NHL these days, events like these could be entertaining - very entertaining.

I love the internet here. It’s so quick. God damn Georgian’s.

I’ll be sure to update you all later on my post-event thoughts. I think we’re all going to hit the Hard Rock after the Skills. Pretty sure it’ll be jammed, though.

For you photo nuts, here’s the “lovely” view of the ATL that we’ve got.

http://inlinethumb46.webshots.com/25...600x600Q85.jpg

[Drew]

Gun Show ftw!

Looking forward to your pics!

[Eric]

lmfao.

[Chris]

The YoungStars game was fun.

I never watched it in it's other form, so I can't really compare it to what it's been previously.

[Ryan20]

Overall, I thought the skills was enjoyable.

Not a fan of the new fastest skater. Change it back to how it was. The obstacle course was a pretty neat idea, especially with the goalies. As for the Breakaway Challenge, not quite what all the hype was billing it up as. However I think with a few years, allowing the players to come up with new things, it might be pretty cool. And WTF Nabokov? Way to ruin it.

Anyone catch DiPietro and Legace mic'd up? I thought these to guys were great. Would've been cool to see Kaberle go 4-for-4 twice, even if he plays for the Laffs.

[Chris]

Yeah, I don't like how Nabokov ruined the whole deal. Kind of lame.

I thought the Breakaway Challenge was going to be a little more entertaining, there were a lot of lame/repetitive moves. There's room to grow, though. Everything's got to start somewhere.

It was alright this year, but I think it's been better.

[Andy]

That was a waste of my evening.

At least I got my Richie jersey.

[Billy]

^ fucking nice

[Drew]

Horrible. The NHL has no clue how to market itself.

[Hextall_Fan88]

Originally Posted by Ryan20

Overall, I thought the skills was enjoyable.

Enjoyable is not really the word I'd use. More like, the feeling you get when someone is trying to castrate you. The fastest skater thing was indeed horrible, and I don't know why on earth they would change it from the previous form. Obstacle course was something to see. Multi-million dollar players doing crap that I can do in my basement. Throwing saucer passes over something that looked like a cardboard box. Hehe, I got a good laugh from that one. And to make matters worse, they had to add that whole goalie shot. I believe only one of the goalies was 2-4. Oh man, terrible, just terrible. Omg, you can shoot into a net from across the ice, and with all that equipement on! Good for you.

The only thing I enjoyed was the accuracy competition. Oh and, may I ask, wtf was Scott Niedermeyer doing at the skills competition? zZzZ Go and retire already. Last but certainly not least, the trick shot/breakaway challenge was horrendous. I don't think you can really describe it with words. The whole night was summed up by Getzlafs poor attempt at Schremps goal a while ago. Just terrible. And then he laughs it off like the poor bastard he is. I thought it was supposed to be a competition? Intensity level was 0. No one tried, except for maybe Ovechkin, but even he failed, and miserably.

Lets just hope everyone can forget this so called Skills Competition, because it was anything but that.

[Ryan20]

Originally Posted by Hextall_Fan88

Enjoyable is not really the word I'd use. More like, the feeling you get when someone is trying to castrate you. The fastest skater thing was indeed horrible, and I don't know why on earth they would change it from the previous form. Obstacle course was something to see. Multi-million dollar players doing crap that I can do in my basement. Throwing saucer passes over something that looked like a cardboard box. Hehe, I got a good laugh from that one. And to make matters worse, they had to add that whole goalie shot. I believe only one of the goalies was 2-4. Oh man, terrible, just terrible. Omg, you can shoot into a net from across the ice, and with all that equipement on! Good for you.

The only thing I enjoyed was the accuracy competition. Oh and, may I ask, wtf was Scott Niedermeyer doing at the skills competition? zZzZ Go and retire already. Last but certainly not least, the trick shot/breakaway challenge was horrendous. I don't think you can really describe it with words. The whole night was summed up by Getzlafs poor attempt at Schremps goal a while ago. Just terrible. And then he laughs it off like the poor bastard he is. I thought it was supposed to be a competition? Intensity level was 0. No one tried, except for maybe Ovechkin, but even he failed, and miserably.

Lets just hope everyone can forget this so called Skills Competition, because it was anything but that.

Have you any idea how hard it is as a goalie to handle the puck well? They really over-hyped the Breakaway Challenge, which is why it seemed so disappointing. That falls on the players. They could've have done anything they wanted, including starting from anywhere in the offensive zone. But every single one started from center ice. Atleast Ovy tried. Everyone else was terrible.Kind of looked they had no idea what to do, at all. As much as I hate to say it, maybe it would've been nice to have Crosby in this event, he would've tried something. Change the skater event back to how it was. How the hell can you let the stick decide a race. Going by that, fucking Chara would've won.

Anyway, like I said overall it was enjoyable to watch. For me the best part was the Youngstars game. Legace was great, especially that pass to Kane. There wasn't anything else on TV last night. Nothing great, nothing terrible. Again, the NHL shows how piss-poor it's marketing is.

[dkcstealth]

I agress the youngstars game was the best part. I hate VS.

[Andy]

Why, thanks for the prompt input!

[PearlJam134]

lol