Showcasing the world’s best hockey players in Las Vegas, ESPN’s industry-leading collection of television and direct-to-consumer platforms will present National Hockey League (NHL) All-Star Weekend, including live coverage of the NHL All-Star Skills Competition presented by DraftKings Sportsbook on ESPN on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET, and the Honda NHL All-Star Game on ABC and ESPN+ on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET, from T-Mobile Arena.
What’s Happening:
- Featuring seven skills competitions that test skating speed, shooting power, shooting accuracy, goaltending and more, this year’s NHL All-Star Skill Competition includes two new contests held outdoors for the first time ever on the Las Vegas Strip. The Discover NHL Fountain Face-Off, a timed event with players racing by boat to a “rink” to shoot pucks into five targets, will be held at the Fountains of Bellagio, while Las Vegas NHL 21 in ’22 on Las Vegas Boulevard is a hockey version of blackjack in which players shoot pucks at playing cards, seeking a total of 21.
- In addition to NHL players participating in the All-Star Game, the Skills Competition will include four special guests including Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras, a contender for Rookie of the Year known for highlight-reel goals and assists; Manon Rhéaume, the first woman ever to play in an NHL game; actor Wyatt Russell, a former professional hockey player who recently starred as John Walker in Marvel’s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier on Disney+; and three-time Olympic ice hockey medalist for Team USA Jocelyne Lamoureaux-Davidson.
- ESPN’s John Buccigross will call the action for the contests inside T-Mobile Arena, alongside analyst Brian Boucher, with AJ Mleczko reporting from the benches and on the ice, and Emily Kaplan at rinkside and back stage. Actor, comedian and Family Feud Canada host Gerry Dee, will host coverage of contests on the Las Vegas Strip, with Laura Rutledge reporting. Steve Levy and NHL legends Mark Messier and Chris Chelios will add special commentary, as well.
- Rosters and captains for teams representing each of the NHL’s four divisions were announced earlier this week. Nineteen players will be making their NHL All-Star debut including forward Mark Stone representing the host team Vegas Golden Knights for the Pacific Division, alongside his teammate Alex Pietrangelo, who will be making his third NHL All-Star appearance. Two-time Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay has three players on the Atlantic Division roster – forward Steven Stamkos, defenseman Victor Hedman, goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy – while eight teams including Vegas have two each: the Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division, Hurricanes and Capitals in the Metropolitan, the Oilers in the Pacific, and Avalanche, Wild and Predators in the Central. Forward Jordan Eberle is the first ever All-Star from the expansion Seattle Kraken.
- Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin, who is fourth in NHL career goals (759) and just seven behind Pittsburgh Penguins legend Jaromir Jagr, is captain of the Metropolitan Division. Toronto forward Auston Matthews, among the NHL’s leaders in goals (29), will captain the Atlantic Division; Dallas Stars forward Joe Pavelski is the Central Division’s captain, replacing injured Colorado forward Nathan MacKinnon; and Connor McDavid, one of the NHL’s most exciting goal scorers and among the league’s points leaders, will serve as captain of the Pacific Division.
- Sean McDonough will call the game on ABC, with analyst Ray Ferraro, Kaplan reporting at rinkside and Rutledge interviewing celebrities in attendance. Studio coverage Saturday will be hosted by Levy with Chelios and Messier as analysts.
- Grammy Award-winning DJ and producer Zedd will help kick off the All-Star Game on Saturday with a performance during player introductions, and Machine Gun Kelly will take the stage during the second intermission.
- The Point with host Buccigross, alongside analysts Barry Melrose and Ferraro, will begin previewing NHL All-Star Week on ESPN2 on Thursday at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2. On Friday at 2 p.m. on ESPN2 and ESPN+, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman joins The Point, which will present an in-depth feature on Anaheim’s Zegras reported by Kaplan. At 7 p.m. ET a special edition of The Point on ESPN will have pre-game coverage of the All-Star Skills Competition, with Boucher, Kaplan and Mleczko contributing, and special commentary from Levy, Chelios and Messier. Replays of The Point are available on-demand on ESPN+.
- Special All-Star Week episodes of In The Crease with Linda Cohn and Melrose will stream exclusively on ESPN+, following the Skills Competition on Friday night at 10:30 p.m. ET, and after the All-Star Game on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET.
- Friday’s NHL Skills Competition at 7:30 p.m. ET, will be available in Spanish on ESPN Deportes with Antonio Valle on play-by-play and Eitán Benezra as analyst, while Kenneth Garay will call the All-Star Game on ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ with analyst Carlos Rossell at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday.
- Fans can go to ESPN.com/NHL or the ESPN App for up-to-the-minute NHL news, information and analysis, including premium editorial content by ESPN senior NHL writer Greg Wyshynski, exclusively for ESPN+ subscribers.
- 2022 NHL All-Star Weekend: Everything you need to know:
- Thursday, Jan. 3 – Wysh List: Looking ahead to All-Star Weekend / How to make the ASG Better (ESPN+ Premium Article)
- Friday, Jan. 4 – Predictions: What to watch for in the Skills Competition and All-Star Game (ESPN+ Premium Article)
- Friday Night, Jan. 4 – Takeaways from the Skills Competition, The biggest things we saw
- Saturday Night, Jan. 5 – Takeaways from the All-Star Game — the biggest things we saw
- Thursday through Sunday, ESPN will be at NHL Fan Fest in Las Vegas with an ESPN “locker room” photo opp and a giant Plinko game. The locker room will feature a digital screen that allows fans to pick the names and jerseys appearing behind them in their photo, which they can receive in physical and digital form. The giant Plinko game will offer fans an opportunity to win ESPN and ESPN+ branded prizes, including a free ESPN+ trial subscription.
- Friday through Sunday, ESPN will also deploy a custom, ESPN-branded ice cream truck to promote the NHL All-Star Game, UFC Fight Night and NFL Pro Bowl – all taking place in Las Vegas and on ESPN, ESPN+ and ABC this weekend. Fans can choose from an NHL Hockey Puck Ice Cream Sandwich, an NFL Long Bomb Pop or a UFC Uppercut Crunch Bar.
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