All-Star Skills competitions bring about memorable moments in plenty of years. Yet, when Tomas Hertl donned a Justin Bieber mask, fans received something truly unusual: nightmare fuel.
Luckily, that (honestly chilling) vision was just one memorable image from the 2020 NHL All-Star Skills competition. Let’s go over the events, winners, and other fun stuff.
Keeping the St. Louis (and surrounding areas) faithful happy
Ryan O’Reilly rocked a Chiefs helmet during warm-ups, while Jordan Binnington also supported the Super Bowl-bound team. The Chiefs did the Blues a solid during their Stanley Cup run, so why not pay it forward? Most importantly: it looked funny.
Matthew Tkachuk also went for a cheap pop from the St. Louis crowd by taking off his jersey to reveal St. Louis Cardinals garb during the Shooting Stars competition.
The greatest fan service came during appearances by big names of old. Wayne Gretzky -- announced, accurately if amusingly, as a former Blue -- really kicked things off. Brett Hull took a shot during the Shooting Stars event, and Keith Tkachuk also joined in alongside Matthew and Brady Tkachuk.
Personally, though, the best moment of all of those cameos came when Al MacInnis showed that he could still provide one of the hardest shots of any human.
HE'S STILL GOT IT!
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) January 25, 2020
Al MacInnis with a 100.4 MPH shot. 🚨@StLouisBlues | #NHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/4W1anu7BvW
Dude is 56. Allegedly.
Shea Weber ended up reclaiming his Hardest Shot title, while Patrick Kane won Shooting Stars.
Hertl wears the Bieber mask, creates nightmare fuel
As great as Hertl was at playing off of Jordan Binnington’s feud/friendly wager with Jordan Binnington (the Blues can fill you in on that), the actual execution of the mask makes me think of Michael Myers. You know, the creepy-masked slasher movie villain guilty of untold fictional executions in the “Halloween” series.
It’s still funny stuff, so enjoy the video above. Just maybe don’t let those images of Hertl as Bieber sink into your soul.
*Shudders*
Hertl explained after the Skills competition that the mask slipped, which made it difficult for him to put a decent shot on Binnington. That slip might also explain why it made it look like Bieber was the face for the rebooted “Shape,” which would make Bieber the next William Shatner.
Anyway, Binnington made that save, and also made the St. Louis crowd happy by winning save relay with 10 saves.
Binnington also got to chirp “Biebs,” saying he expected more. Nicely done.
Who won 2020 NHL All-Star Skills events, including Elite Women’s 3-on-3
So, the strangeness was mostly contained in those moments above. Granted, the Shooting Stars seems like it needs some fine-tuning, and I personally prefer styrofoam or otherwise breakable targets to the digital ones in this year’s accuracy competition.
But beyond those quibbles, the rest of the action was straightforward enough that we can breeze through the winners in one convenient spot.
Winners of Elite 3-on-3 Women’s Hockey: Canada 2-1
Hardest Shot: Shea Weber (106.5 mph)
Fastest Skater: Mathew Barzal (13.175 seconds) upset Connor McDavid (13.215)
Accuracy Shooting: Jaccob Slavin (9.505 seconds)
Save Streak: Jordan Binnington (10 saves)
Shooting Stars: Patrick Kane (22, then 2 in tiebreaker)
Itching for more All-Star Skills fun? Check out the 2019 edition.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.