The NHL has revealed its Three Stars for last week, with Nazem Kadri taking home the top spot. The Colorado Avalanche forward continues his incredible campaign with eight more points in four games, including three game-winning goals. The pending unrestricted free agent is having quite the platform year and is now just two points shy of his previous career-high in scoring with half the season to play. Sitting at 18 goals and 59 points in 40 games, Kadri is in for a huge contract in the offseason.
Second and third went to Frederik Andersen and Johnny Gaudreau respectively after their own outstanding weeks. The Carolina Hurricanes netminder posted another perfect 3-0 record and now leads the NHL with 24 wins. His .929 save percentage is easily the best of his career and puts him directly into the Vezina conversation. Gaudreau meanwhile is another pending UFA having an incredible year, with the difference being that he’s done this before. He registered 99 points in 2018-19, good enough for fourth place in the Hart Trophy race, and is once again playing at that level. With eight points in four games last week he continues to storm up the NHL leaderboard and now sits seventh in the league with 52 points.
- The NHL All-Star Skills competition will have a pair of new events this year, as the league announced the Fountain Face-Off and Las Vegas NHL 21 in ’22. The former will take place in the fountains of the Bellagio and will need players to travel by boat to a platform and attempt to shoot pucks at targets floating in other parts of the water. For the latter, contestants will try to achieve a hand of 21 by shooting pucks at card targets out on the Las Vegas strip. Also making a return will be the Breakaway Challenge, where Trevor Zegras will join special guests Manon Rheaume and actor Wyatt Russell for the first time the event has been held since 2016.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs can’t wait for the All-Star break to come, as the team has already ruled out Jake Muzzin their last two matches before the weekend festivities. The veteran defenseman is dealing with a concussion and after skating the last few days, was absent from morning skate today. Head coach Sheldon Keefe explained that Muzzin “is going to take a bit of a step back” through the break as the team’s medical staff continues to monitor him.
Kadri is gonna get PAID.
@slimmycito – Only as long as he keeps his head on straight in the post-season. Hopefully, he has the good sense to stay put, should the offer be reasonable enough.
OK, fess up, @Gavin. Did you or did you not roll your eyes during the Skills competition paragraph above? Or was it simply, “I can’t believe I actually have to write this!” Another All-Star weekend gimmick to beg up ratings that may very well not appear…
That paragraph melted my brain a little, I won’t lie. It’s unreal that the NHL isn’t using this time to make up games and instead is going to have the most meaningless weekend in hockey history.
But this part… “Also making a return will be the Breakaway Challenge, where Trevor Zegras will join special guests Manon Rheaume and actor Wyatt Russell for the first time the event has been held since 2016.”
Maybe other people do, but I have no idea who Wyatt Russell is and I’m probably one of about 50 people who do know who Manon Rheaume is, but…why do I care if either is involved in a breakaway challenge?
The NHL has absolutely no idea how to produce content (beyond hockey games) that anyone might want to watch. They should stop trying.
@forwhomjoshbelltolled – That means there’s about 48 more who may have heard of Manon, but how many remember her brother, Pascal? We, the real fans, would rather have a skills competition without gimmicks, kind of like the old days. The NHL isn’t really growing the game with this junk they’ve brought in, and the rest of us may turn off parts or all of the side-show, and listen to “32 Thoughts”, “Habs Lunch”, “Off The Cuff”, “OverDrive”, or name your favorite podcast here. Even doing a binge watch of condensed games on NHL.com may be better entertainment.
I do remember Pascal Rheaume, because until he became a Penguin I used to confuse Pascal Dupuis and him, but was either unaware or forgot that he was related to her.
I have two Manon Rheaume hockey cards hah. Perk of being a 90’s collector.
Taking a literal f****ing boat onto the Bellageo waters to shoot pucks at targets not only sounds stupid, but is actually embarrassing for the game.
Surely there is something better than that?