The best show in town

By Kostya Kennedy, SI

SuperSkills competitions are great for fans, players and the future of the league, and the NHL is much the better for staging them. The intrasquad SuperSkills competitions that teams host throughout the season are as equally important as the elite event held and televised during All-Star weekend. Wherever they unfold, the skills competitions -- in which turbo-charged players like Teemu Selanne race around the ice at top speed and sharpshooters like Raymond Bourque unleash pucks to precise spots -- are exciting, playful and full of vibrancy.

When Florida goalie Trevor Kidd dislocated his right shoulder in the Panthers' SuperSkills event earlier this season, the injury caused outcries against the competition. "He got hurt in a meaningless show!" was the standard complaint. But just because these competitions don't count in the standings doesn't make them meaningless -- and such injuries are an anomaly. Players get hurt in practices and exhibitions all the time. Jeez, Rangers defenseman Brain Leetch got hurt a few years back when he slipped on a puddle. Kidd was fiercely parrying a series of rapid shots when he blew his shoulder.

The skills competitions put on gorgeous display the traits that make elite-level hockey such an exceptional sport: The riveting alloy of speed, grace, reflexes and precision. The events also expose the game to fans who otherwise might not see it. The Panthers event, like many teams', cost nothing to attend. Hundreds of school kids bussed in for it and many of those kids would not have been able to afford a ticket to a regular game. Those teams that do charge a minimal fee to attend their SuperSkills events donate the proceeds to charity.

At All-Star weekend, where the speed and skill level of the competitors is at the highest level, the NHL's stars go on up close display for the fans. If the league is to continue to grow its fan base it will to do so on the strength of its best performers. SuperSkills presents those players, and their incomparable abilities, to a huge audience. And it's fun to watch -- I, for one, don't plan to miss it.

Call 'em Stuper-Skills

By David Vecsey, CNNSI.com

It's a daunting task to argue against the SuperSkills competition. Kind of like arguing against puppy dogs or stocking caps: they're warm, they're fuzzy, they're funny to look at, and, after all, they're not really hurting anyone right?

But I'll allow Kostya Kennedy the layup of defending puppy dogs, stocking caps and skills events. Those who know me know cynicism is my natural state, the way fish swim or sunflowers turn toward the sun. After all, I believe all the Kennedys are still alive (except Ted). And I want to know what Mother Teresa was really up to all those years in Calcutta.

I would pose this question, as well: Are the skills events really that exciting to watch? The accurate shot is cool because things explode, but that's about it. The puck relay? The rapid fire? Where in the NHL does a player get five free whacks at a puck in the crease? They should run that event with Scott Stevens and Chris Chelios cross-checking and face-washing the attacking player.

You want to put a little excitement into the skills events? How about the hardest hit event, where bangers like Mark Messier and Rob Blake get one shot at an open-ice hip check on Pavel Bure and Paul Kariya as they try to take breakout passes up the middle. Or what about a slew-footing competition, where Bryan Marchment and Ruslan Salei lock legs as they speed towards the boards.

Now that sounds like fun.

And then at least the players know what they're getting into. Poor Trevor Kidd. He was leading the league in save percentage and otherwise having an All-Star season in Florida when he hurt his shoulder during the rapid fire competition. Was it worth it?

What if Trevor Kidd had been the high-profile Patrick Roy or Dominik Hasek? Then the question might be taken a little more seriously. What will we say when Bure or Kariya fishtail and career into the boards during the fastest skater competition? Or when Al MacInnis misses the net with one of his smart bombs, shattering glass all over innocent kids in the front row? Then talk to me about innocent fun.