Packed Enterprise, Blues legends watch Binnington win All-Star Skills goalie competition

ST. LOUIS — Shooting pucks from the stands and some of the best women’s hockey players in the world going back and forth in a 3-on-3 game stole the show at the NHL All-Star Skills Competition.

Hometown hero Jordan Binnington made another memory in the save streak event among all eight goaltenders. The St. Louis Blues‘ Stanley Cup-winning goalie stopped 10 shots in a row to win it and in true Binnington fashion said afterward he “expected more.”

He probably didn’t expect what was coming from Tomas Hertl. The San Jose Sharks forward donned a Justin Bieber mask for his attempt — which Binnington stopped — weeks after Binnington challenged the Canadian singer to a breakaway competition.

The two new events spiced up the skills competition by showcasing the kind of offensive skill that has become the norm in the sport.

A subject of booing from Blues fans all night, Chicago Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane beat Toronto’s Mitch Marner and St. Louis’ Ryan O’Reilly to win the “shooting stars” event.

The event had a very St. Louis flair with cameo appearances from a handful of former Blues players. Wayne Gretzky took the microphone to open the festivities, Bernie Federko passed the puck to current Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo for some accuracy shooting practice and seven-time hardest shot champion Al MacInnis took one more shot with his old wooden stick.

During the shooting stars event with St. Louis native brothers Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, dad Keith made an appearance on the platform with his sons. Matthew took off his Calgary Flames jersey and took his shots wearing a robin’s egg blue Yadier Molina Cardinals jersey.

Then, as a fitting nightcap, Blues legend Brett Hull took his own shot at the targets on the ice.