The brand new abilities occasion noticed gamers head to the seashore and battle over a dunk tank. This is what you did not see on TV.
SUNRISE – Colorado Avalanche teammates Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen are champions as soon as once more, although this time it wasn’t the Stanley Cup however reasonably the NHL’s first-ever Splash Shot competitors. Filmed on location in Fort Lauderdale the day earlier than, the dunk-tank occasion was positively enjoyable to observe – although within the full Florida solar, that dunk tank appeared very alluring to the remainder of us within the stands.
Because the winners have formally been topped, I can now take you behind the scenes of the taping, in what was an interesting set-up. An important takeaway? Guys needed to be there. Steve Mayer, the NHL’s Chief Content material Officer, had plenty of nice insights and tidbits on the occasion, one in all which was the lineup: They had been capturing to get teammates collectively, but in addition had some keeners. The NHL had initially approached the Rangers as a result of New York had a number of all-stars, however when goaltender Igor Shesterkin heard concerning the occasion, he needed in. So the Vezina winner ended up getting in with Norris-winning teammate Adam Fox (Artemi Panarin, the third Ranger, didn’t take part in Splash Shot).
The league additionally pictured Toronto Maple Leafs buddies Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner as a tandem, however Matthews obtained damage and was changed on the Atlantic Division roster by Florida’s Aleksander Barkov. So no match there. Brothers Brady and Matthew Tkachuk had been an apparent pair, however the large one was Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon. The longtime associates teamed up and apparently, it was the Penguins captain who actually needed in after he heard concerning the occasion on a convention name.
“That was purely Crosby,” Mayer stated. “He needed to do the occasion.”
Sadly, Crosby did not get to shoot as a result of his workforce was eradicated within the semi-final. The largest issue within the sport was which aspect you bought to shoot on: Each groups that shot on the surfboards on the suitable aspect of the rink misplaced and it was extremely apparent that one thing was off about that aspect: the surfboards simply would not go down like those on the left, although that they had large gash-marks from the pucks in them. Mayer famous that in rehearsals it hadn’t been an issue and I will reduce the organizers some slack; best-laid plans and all that.
When Makar stepped as much as shoot within the remaining, he began on the suitable aspect, however may solely knock down two of the 5 boards, in order that they moved him over to the left aspect and he crushed it on the re-do.
For me, it was humorous to see how the gamers reacted once they had been dunked. Matthew Tkachuk stayed within the water for the whole spherical and given the warmth that day, I do not blame him. Shesterkin really did dunk Rantanen within the remaining, simply not formally: As soon as he ran out of time, the gang started to chant “Dunk him, dunk him!” And everybody concerned appeared joyful to hold out their needs.
Total, it was a stable environment. The bleachers had been full of followers, with Carolina, the Rangers and clearly the hometown Panthers having essentially the most supporters. One fortunate fan even obtained his Penguins jersey signed by Crosby after the occasion.
Curiously sufficient, Mayer revealed that the dunk tank thought was initially thought-about for the St. Louis all-star weekend a couple of years in the past, however in the end they went with the shooting-from-the-stands occasion there as an alternative (which I liked as an idea). However with a complete seashore to play with in Florida, it was time to unleash Splash Shot on the hockey world.
“We knew coming to Florida that we needed to go exterior, however there was a threat – if it had been a wet week, it is a catastrophe,” Mayer stated. “However it was definitely worth the threat.”
And the gamers had been sport, which is all the time an important a part of these occasions.
“They had been so cool,” Mayer stated. “They had been loving it, they had been trash-talking…Sidney Crosby went within the dunk tank!”
Information Abstract:
- NHL All-Star Weekend: Behind the Scenes of Splash Shot
- Test all information and articles from the most recent NHL updates.