Edmonton Oilers host skills competition with some surprising big winners

Last night, the Edmonton Oilers showed yet another reason why their team and their fans are some of the best in the league as they hosted their annual skills tournament to a full arena at home in Edmonton.

Oilers players took part in a rounds of the usual skills competitions involved at the NHL's All Star Game, including fastest skater, accuracy shooting, and hardest shot - and some surprising players took home the top ranking.

In the fastest skater competition, forward Ryan McLeod beat out Connor McDavid for the fastest time.

With a top speed of 40.5km/h Clouder wins the title of #Oilers fastest skater 💨 pic.twitter.com/2kFE3nxCiB— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 5, 2024

Earlier yesterday morning at practice, goaltender Stuart Skinner offered a bit of insight to the accuracy competition. As a goaltender, he'd have the best perspective from facing his team in practice. Skinner picked Nugent-Hopkins to be the team's most accurate shooter, and last night, Nuge beat out Draisaitl and proved Skinner right.

It's was Nuge vs. Leo in the accuracy shooting final 🎯 pic.twitter.com/SFeZkCQHh5— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 5, 2024

Finally, Cody Ceci shocked literally everyone by winning the hardest shot portion of the skills competition. With wins from Ceci and McLeod in key components from the skills competitions is a big testament to the quality of the depth of the Oilers.

A CEC BOMB 💣

Cody Ceci wins hardest shot with this 102.9MPH BLAST 💥 pic.twitter.com/FXp30VNxX6— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 5, 2024

In the shootout component, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl went head to head, but neither was declared a winner.

Davo didn't have to go so hard 😤 pic.twitter.com/6LDdOqgtyS— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 5, 2024

Trying something new for Skills 😭 pic.twitter.com/30agYGGZrd— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 5, 2024

The night also served as an opportunity for the Oilers players to show their personality through continuous on-ice interviews, as well as being their family members or even pets around the ice. All in all, it was a great night for the Oilers and their fans before their true all-stars head to the game in Toronto.