Tampa Bay Lightning fans watch as defenseman Victor Hedman and forward Nikita Kucherov compete in the NHL All-Star Skills Competition in Los Angeles.
Every season, there comes a point where the entire league takes a break from the everyday stress of competition and gives the players a time to kick back and have some good, old-fashioned fun. This time has finally come in the 2016-17 season.
This weekend, players from all around the league will descend on the Staples Center to take place in the 2017 NHL All-Star Weekend festivities. As many Tampa Bay Lightning fans know by now, there are two players representing the Bolts in the City of Angels, defenseman Victor Hedman and forward Nikita Kucherov.
The 2017 NHL All-Star game this weekend will mark the first appearance in the competition for both Hedman and Kucherov. Needless to say, it’s going to be an exciting weekend for these two as they represent their team in the league-wide competition.
The activity will kick off on Saturday night with the Skills Competition. Players will compete against one another in six categories; Accuracy, the Breakaway Challenge, Fastest Skater, Challenge Relay, Hardest Shot, and Shootout. Much like every season, it’ll be interesting to see how individual players match up against one another without the team as a whole by their side.
The next afternoon, things will shift ever-so-slightly as the players join their respective Divisions and participate in a three-on-three tournament. As you can imagine, the Atlantic Division will play the Metropolitan Division and the Central Division will play the Pacific Division.
Much like the NHL postseason, the winner of those respective games will move on to represent their respective conferences in the Championship Game.
Unlike a majority of the Tampa Bay Lightning games in the regular season, the 2017 NHL All-Star Skills Competition and Game will be broadcast nationally. This means the NBC Sports Network and their parent station NBC will be in charge of the broadcast.
Are you looking for a way to catch all the action? Maybe you need a way to find all the action while on the go. Never fear, we have the perfect solution for you. Here’s a closer look at all the information you’ll need to make sure you don’t miss a moment of the action.
Event: 2017 NHL All-Star Skills Competition
Venue: Staples Center
Location: Los Angeles, California
Date: Saturday, January 28th
Start Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
TV Info: NBC Sports Network
Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra
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The Tampa Bay Lightning have been under a ridiculous amount of stress as of late attempting to dig themselves out of the hole they currently find themselves in. Thankfully, at least two of their players will have an opportunity to decompress and have some fun…even if it is just a weekend.