AHL Skills Competition: Events, participants, and how to watch

Feb 5, 2023 - 10:00 PM

If you, like just about every other person, had a hard time following the NHL skills competition on Friday, you may find the AHL’s much simpler approach to the talent showcase easier to digest. The minor-league events won’t have semifinals and finals, but go through seven events one at a time, with individual winners and points awarded for conference head-to-head scoring.

How to watch

Start time: 6:00 PM EST / 3:00 PM PST
Venue: Place Bell, Laval, Quebec
In Canada: TSN (English), RDS (French)
In the U.S.: NHL Network
Streaming: AHLtv (free), RDS Direct, TSN+

Events

Puck Control Relay

Two races feature a three-player relay through various obstacles, with the winning conference from each awarded a point in the overall scoring. Two more races will be contested at an individual level.

Participants

Race #1

Western Conference (W): Christian Wolanin, Thomas Bordeleau, & Luke Evangelista vs.
Eastern Conference (E): Zac Jones, Matthew Highmore, & Mike Vecchione

Race #2

W: Ryker Evans, Sammy Walker, & Declan Chisholm vs.
E: Jack Ahcan, Egor Sokolov, & Lukas Rousek

Race #3

W: T.J. Tynan vs.
E: Alex Barré-Boulet

Race #4

W: Seth Griffith vs.
E: Alex Nylander

Fastest Skater

Six players receive a timed lap around the rink in their direction of choice. At the end, the one with the fastest time earns one point, and the lowest average earns a point for that conference.

Participants

W: Michael Carcone, Thomas Harley, & Lukas Reichel vs.
E: Ethen Frank, Matthew Highmore, & Anthony Richard

Rapid Fire

Goalies face two shooters, moving back and forth, maintaining contact with their crease, between both players in quick succession trying to stop their shots. Shooters take five shots each (no slapshots allowed), and all 10 shots happen with a 12-second time period. Four goalies from each conference will participate, and the conference making the most saves gets a point. Individual saves will also be tracked for an overall goaltending competition.

Participants

W: Dustin Wolf vs. Riley Nash & Ruslan Iskhakov
E: Joel Hofer vs. Brayden Pachal & Max McCormick
W: Jesper Wallstedt vs. Jack Ahcan & Gabriel Dumont
E: Joseph Woll vs. Thomas Harley & Brett Seney
W: Lukas Dostal vs. Logan Shaw & Ronnie Attard
E: Nico Daws vs. Declan Chisholm & Matthew Phillips
W: Dustin Wolf vs. Alex Belzile & Darren Raddysh
E: Brandon Bussi vs. Christian Wolanin & Max Lajoie

Hardest Shot

Players fire a puck as hard as they can into an empty net. The hardest shot gets one point, the highest average among conference competitors earns another.

Participants

W: Brian Lashoff, Riley Barber, Brayden Pachel, & Jean-Luc Foudy vs.
E: Noel Hoefenmayer, Darren Raddysh, Jake Christiansen, & Ronnie Attard

Accuracy Shooting

Players shoot at targets inside the net. They have 18 seconds hit all four using a maximum of eight pucks, but only hits and attempts are factored into the final results. As with most events, there are two points available, for individual and team performance.

Participants

W: Riley Barber, David Gust, Michael Carcone, & Max Lajoie vs.
E: Egor Sokolov, Tyson Foerster, Gabrial Dumont, & Mike Vecchione

Pass and Score

Three skaters rush in on an opposing goalie and all three must touch the puck before a shot is made. The three skaters then head back to an onside position for two more such rushes. They have a total of 27 seconds to execute three shots. Each goal counts toward the overall total.

Participants

W: Sammy Walker, Max McCormick, & Luke Evangelista vs. Joel Hofer

E: Riley Nash, Ethen Frank, & Alex Belzile vs. Dustin Wolf

W: T.J. Tynan, Brian Lashoff, & Thomas Bordeleau vs. Joseph Woll

E: Jake Christiansen, Lukas Rousek, & Tyson Foerster vs. Jesper Wallstedt

W: Jean-Luc Foudy, Seth Griffith, & Lukas Reichel vs. Nico Daws

E: Anthony Richard, Zac Jones, & Alex Nylander vs. Lukas Dostal

W: Brett Seney, Matthew Phillips, & David Gust vs. Brandon Bussi

E: Ruslan Iskhakov, Logan Shaw, & Alex Barré-Boulet vs. Dustin Wolf

Breakaway Relay

Teams of five individual shooters take turns on breakaways versus opposing goalies. All five shooters per round must complete their shots within 50 seconds. Each goal counts toward the overall total.

Participants

W: Matthew Phillips, Brayden Pachal, T.J. Tynan, Thomas Harley, & David Gust vs. Joel Hofer

E: Ruslan Iskhakov, Zac Jones, Ethen Frank, Gabriel Dumont, & Jake Christiansen vs. Lukas Dostal

W: Luke Evangelista, Brian Lashoff, Brett Seney, Seth Griffith, & Christian Wolanin vs. Joseph Woll

E: Matthew Highmore, Egor Sokolov, Darren Raddysh, Alex Barré-Boulet, & Noel Hoefenmayer vs. Dustin Wolf

W: Jean-Luc Foudy, Declan Chisholm, Michael Carcone, Ryker Evans, & Riley Barber vs. Nico Daws

E: Anthony Richard, Alex Nylander, Jack Ahcan, Tyson Foerster, & Lukas Rousek vs. Jesper Wallstedt

W: Max Lajoie, Sammy Walker, Max McCormick, Thomas Bordeleau, & Lukas Reichel vs. Brandon Bussi

E: Logan Shaw, Riley Nash, Mike Vecchione, Ronnie Attard, & Alex Belzile vs. Lukas Dostal

Top Goaltender Competition

Using the results from the Rapid Fire and Pass and Score events, the goaltender allowing the fewest goals across both events wins this competition.

Participants

W: Dustin Wolf
E: Joel Hoefer
W: Jesper Wallstedt
E: Joseph Woll
W: Lukas Dostal
E: Nico Daws
W: Dustin Wolf
E: Brandon Bussi