The Washington Capitals made their presence known throughout the Las Vegas strip even though Evgeny Kuznetsov nor Tom Wilson didn’t take home any hardware. We still had fun though and that’s all that the All Star Break matters right?
We had the most fun during player introductions but we’ll get to that later. First up when they flew into Vegas was media day. Kuznetsov, per usual with the media, stole the show. We thought he wanted to be separated from Alex Ovechkin at first but then he got COVID and couldn’t participate in the All Star Game.
Kuznetsov told the media the following about his Russian friend:
"“He was very disappointed, I can see. He was talking a lot about this All-Star. He wants to come, he likes this city, he likes this type of moments. For him, it’s always big.”"
Tom Wilson said this on his first All Star Game:
"“It’s really cool… when I got offered the opportunity, I was very honored and privileged. These are the best players in our sport in the best game in the world, so it’s a lot of fun.”"
At T-Mobile Arena Kuznetsov participated in the fastest skater competition. Coming into it, he was not the favorite by any means. I predicted he would finish third. I was off. He came in last but in the end it was fun to fun as Kuzy smiled after his turn.
Kuznetsov took big strides, knocked down a cone but continued on. Kordan Krou won it. Kuznetsov finished with 14.559 seconds while Kyrou of the St. Louis Blues clocked in at 13.550 seconds.
Wilson competed in the Hardest Shot and went last. He had to beat Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning who’s shot came in at 103.2 miles per hour. Wilson’s first attempt came in at 96.8 miles per hour and then on the second shot went triple digits at 101.1 miles per hour.
#ALLCAPS Tom Wilson places third place in the hardest shot, #wilsonownsvegas pic.twitter.com/JWdsNSSaZN
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) February 5, 2022
We didn’t get Alex Ovechkin in the Breakaway Challenge this year but we did get Kirill Kaprizov of the Minnesota Wild channeling his inner Ovi. He came out wearing skates with yellow laces then took off his Wild jersey and revealed a red Capitals #8 jersey. He even did Alex’s gatorade routine before going in.
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Once he scored the breakaway goal he did the “hot stick” celebration from when Ovechkin scored his 50th goal in 2009, a celebration the got some criticism from some media members including Don Cherry.
Today the best players in the entire NHL will take centerstage for the All Star Game. The 3 on 3 tournament begins at 3 p.m. when the Metropolitan Division take on the Pacific Division followed by the Atlantic Division and the Central Division. You can catch the game on ABC and ESPN plus.