The Colorado Avalanche do not have a representative for Sunday night's 2012 NHL All Star Game, but rookie LW Gabriel Landeskog has been selected as one of the rookies to participate on Zdeno Chara's Team during the 2012 NHL Skills Competition on Saturday night. Landeskog -- Colorado's first-round pick (No. 2 overall) in the 2011 Early Draft -- is one of 12 NHL rookies who received an invitation to participate in the Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Skills Competition and will compete in the G Series NHL Skills Challenge Relay.
The event requires that two rookies participate, and the talented Landeskog is responsible for the stick handling portion of the race. Here is a look at the other players who will join in his relay team and their individual responsibilities:
G Series NHL Skills Challenge Relay
One-timer passer: Ryan Suter
One-timer right-handed: Dennis Wideman
One-timer right-handed: Jarome Iginla
One-timer right-handed: Joffrey Lupul
Passing accuracy: Patrick Kane
Puck control: Pavel Datsyuk
Stick handling: Gabriel Landeskog
Target shooter: Marian Gaborik
One-timer passer: Jordan Eberle
One-timer left-handed: Dion Phaneuf
One-timer left-handed: Zdeno Chara
One-timer left-handed: Jamie Benn
Passing accuracy: Kimmo Timonen
Puck control: Raphael Diaz
Stick handling: Evgeni Malkin
Target shooter: Phil Kessel
A complete list of events and players for the 2012 NHL Skills Competition is available here.
Here is the remaining schedule for the 2012 NHL All-Star weekend:
- Saturday, Jan. 28: All-Star Skills Competition -- 5 PM MT, NBC Sports Network
- Sunday, Jan. 29: NHL All-Star Game -- 2 PM MT, NBC Sports Network
The Skills Competition will be announced by Dave Strader (play-by-play) and Eddie Olczyk (analyst), who will be joined by Pierre McGuire and Jeremy Roenick as on-ice reporting and player interviews. Liam McHugh, Mike Milbury and Keith Jones are the NBC Sports studio analysts for the event.
Stay tuned to SB Nation Denver for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the Colorado Avalanche be sure to visit Mile High Hockey. Visit SB Nation NHL for more news and notes around the league. For full coverage of the 2012 NHL All-Star Game in Ottawa, check in with SB Nation's StoryStream.