Big goalie, little kid dominate All-Star Skills competition

LOS ANGELES — Big Mike Smith and little Ryker Kesler stole the show at the NHL All-Star Skills Competition. The towering Arizona goalie scored a 188-foot goal during the Four Line Challenge on Saturday night, and the 5-year-old son of Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Kesler scored on Montreal goalie Carey Price during the Shootout. The Atlantic Division won the overall competition and chose to face the Metropolitan Division on Sunday in the second semifinal period of the All-Star Game, which was changed last year to a 3-on-3 tournament among teams from each of the NHL’s four divisions. NHL scoring leader Connor McDavid won the Fastest Skater competition, and Montreal defenseman Shea Weber had the hardest shot in the All-Star field for the third consecutive season, albeit with his lowest speed yet. Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby won the Accuracy Shooting competition, and he joined Weber and Boston’s Brad Marchand as the only adults to score in the shootout. The event ended with a shootout competition between the Atlantic and Pacific teams, but just four of the 20 skaters scored. One of them was Ryker, who beat the grinning Price five-hole and celebrated with a two-fisted pump while his All-Star dad filmed him on his phone. The best early moment belonged to Smith, who lived every goalie’s dream when he shot a puck from the crease into a tiny slot at ice level in the middle of the far net. Before Ryker Kesler seized control of the shootout, Smith’s goal was the most memorable moment of this relaxed Saturday afternoon of annual silliness preceding the game on Sunday. Smith already showed off his shooting skills while scoring a goal into an empty net for the Coyotes in October 2013 , but this one had much less margin for error. “It’s actually less pressure in a game than it was here tonight, so that was nice to see” Smith said. Smith’s shot was the highlight of the Four Line Challenge, the newest addition to the Skills Competition. Essentially a version of the on-ice promotions all around the world that turn hockey into a version of miniature golf, the NHL stars largely missed the tiny targets until Smith let loose with his stunner. Ryker Kesler also got his dad’s turn in the Four Line Challenge, but missed from mid-ice. Turns out he was just getting warmed up. McDavid, who’s only 15 years older than Ryker, also added another honor to his rapidly growing list, easily beating his seven competitors in a lap around the ice to prove his superior speed. He easily beat Colorado speedster Nate MacKinnon during their head-to-head race, but fell just short of Dylan Larkin’s speed record during his second lap. The Edmonton Oilers captain will appear in his first All-Star Game on Sunday after missing last year’s festivities due to a broken collarbone. Crosby and Toronto rookie Auston Matthews only needed five shots apiece to hit the four targets in the Accuracy contest, but Crosby did it more quickly. Gretzky to coach Ovechkin, Crosby in All-Star Game Wayne Gretzky, the NHL’s all-time scoring leader, was named Saturday as a fill-in coach for the Metropolitan division team in Sunday’s NHL All-Star Game, uniting three of the league’s greatest players. Gretzky, nicknamed “The Great One”, will guide a squad featuring Russian star Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, who netted the 2010 Vancouver Olympic gold medal-winning goal for Canada. All three were named among the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players on Friday as part of festivities for the contest in Los Angeles. Gretzky, who scored 894 goals and set up 1,963 more in a historic 20-season career that ended in 1999, was called in to replace Columbus Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella, who cited personal reasons for pulling out of the job. Tortorella withdrew because his son Nick, a US Army soldier stationed overseas, has a gravely ill 10-year-old pit bull. The coach owns five dogs and his charity foundation finds homes for dogs. Crosby leads the NHL with 28 goals this season while Ovechkin ranks fourth with 23. Gretzky coached the Phoenix Coyotes from 2005-2009. He is a partner and vice president of the Edmonton Oilers, a club he helped to four Stanley Cup titles. In the NHL All-Star Game, each of four divisions is represented by 11-man teams that play 20-minute 3-on-3 semi-final contests with the winners meeting to decide an overall champion. — Agencies