Trick shots, sophomores vs. rookies and breakaways galore highlight the 2009 Honda/NHL All-Star SuperSkills Competition

NEW YORK -- The game's most dazzling shootout artists will attempt to wow the voting public in the Scotiabank NHL Fan Fav Breakaway Challenge and the classes of 2007-08 and 2008-09 will battle for youthful supremacy when NHL All-Star Weekend gets underway with the 2009 Honda/NHL All-Star SuperSkills Competition Saturday night, Jan. 24, at Montreal's Bell Centre.

The realigned NHL YoungStars Game presented by Upper Deck and the fan-judged Scotiabank NHL Fan Fav Breakaway Challenge will join SuperSkills mainstays such as the Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater, McDonald's NHL Accuracy Shooting and Cisco NHL Hardest Shot competitions to determine the League's best in various disciplines. The evening will culminate with the best hockey players in the world doing what they've done to end practices ever since shortly after their parents first tied their skates: engage in an elimination shootout contest that won't end until there's only one man left unstopped.

To open the evening, four of the League's speedsters will take the Bell Centre ice in an attempt to beat Mike Gartner's 13-year-old record for the fastest (13.386 seconds) circuit of an NHL rink in the Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater.

The stopwatches then get pocketed and the imaginations get set free when six of the NHL's most creative players try to win the votes of fans by performing feats of puck-handling and goal-scoring wizardry in the Scotiabank NHL Fan Fav Breakaway Challenge. With full access to the entire offensive zone, each shooter gets one minute to complete as many attempts as possible at a routine that ends with a shot on goal. Once all six skaters have performed, fans will vote by mobile text message to determine the winner.

Next up, the top young players in the game will take center stage in the sixth NHL YoungStars Game presented by Upper Deck. This year, for the first time, the non-stop, wide-open game of three-on-three will pit NHL sophomores against rookies.

After the League's sharpshooters pick corners in the McDonald's NHL Accuracy Shooting, the boomers will blast away in the Cisco NHL Hardest Shot in an attempt to break the record set by Al Iafrate with a 105.2-mph slap shot at the 1993 NHL All-Star Weekend in Montreal.

Finally, all 36 skaters and six goalies will play the time-honored game of hockey survivor -- the Gatorade NHL Elimination Shootout. The six All-Star goalies will conduct a random draw to select the six shooters each will face in the first round. Only the shooters who score will advance. The competition will continue until a round is completed in which only one shooter scores.

The 2009 NHL All-Star Weekend in Montreal will celebrate the Montreal Canadiens' Centennial season with live national broadcasts of the Honda/NHL SuperSkills event on Saturday, Jan. 24, and the NHL All-Star Game on Sunday, Jan. 25, on CBC and RDS in Canada and VERSUS in the United States. NASN, ASN, J Sports, Sky Mexico, Fox Sports Australia and other NHL international broadcast partners will provide live coverage of both the Honda/NHL SuperSkills event and the NHL All-Star Game to more than 150 countries and territories in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the Pacific Rim, Mexico and the Caribbean. NHL Radio will provide exclusive, national radio coverage which can be heard on stations around the United States and Canada as well as on Sirius XM Radio's NHL Home Ice, located at XM channel 204 and on SIRIUS channel 208 with the "Best of XM" programming package. NHL.com and NHL Network will provide extensive coverage of the All-Star Weekend.

NHL ALL-STAR SKILLS COMPETITION RESULTS, 1990-2008

Fastest Skater
2008    Shawn Horcoff          4.395 seconds*
2007    Andy McDonald         14.030 seconds
2004    Scott Niedermayer    13.783 seconds
2003    Marian Gaborik         13.713 seconds
2002    Sami Kapanen          14.039 seconds
2001    Bill Guerin                 13.690 seconds
2000    Sami Kapanen          13.649 seconds
1999    Peter Bondra            14.640 seconds
1998    Scott Niedermayer    13.560 seconds
1997    Peter Bondra            13.610 seconds
1996    Mike Gartner             13.386 seconds
1994    Sergei Fedorov         13.525 seconds
1993    Mike Gartner             13.510 seconds
1992    Sergei Fedorov         14.363 seconds
* revised format   

Hardest Shot   
2008    Zdeno Chara        103.1 mph
2007    Zdeno Chara        100.4 mph
2004    Adrian Aucoin       102.2 mph
2003    Al MacInnis           98.9 mph
2002    Sergei Fedorov     101.5 mph
2001    Fredrik Modin        102.1 mph
2000    Al MacInnis           100.1 mph
1999    Al MacInnis           98.5 mph
1998    Al MacInnis           100.4 mph
1997    Al MacInnis           98.9 mph
1996    Dave Manson       98.0 mph
1994    Al Iafrate              102.7 mph
1993    Al Iafrate              105.2 mph
1992    Al MacInnis           93.0 mph
1991    Al MacInnis           94.0 mph
1990    Al Iafrate              96.0 mph

Elimination Shootout
2008    Dion Phaneuf

Shooting Accuracy   
2008    Tomas Kaberle     4 hits, 5 shots
2007    Eric Staal              4 hits, 5 shots
            Marian Hossa   
2004    Jeremy Roenick    4 hits, 4 shots
2003    Jeremy Roenick    4 hits, 6 shots
2002    Jarome Iginla       4 hits, 6 shots
            Markus Naslund   
2001    Ray Bourque        4 hits, 6 shots
2000    Ray Bourque        4 hits, 5 shots
            Viktor Kozlov   
1999    Ray Bourque        4 hits, 6 shots
            Jeremy Roenick   
            Keith Tkachuk   
1998    Ray Bourque        4 hits, 6 shots
            Peter Forsberg   
            B. Shanahan   
1997    Ray Bourque        4 hits, 7 shots
1996    Mark Messier       4 hits, 4 shots
1994    B. Shanahan        4 hits, 5 shots
1993    Ray Bourque        4 hits, 4 shots
1992    Ray Bourque        4 hits, 4 shots
1991    Mark Messier        4 hits, 6 shots
1990    Ray Bourque        4 hits, 7 shots

Breakaway Challenge
2008     Alex Ovechkin