NHL All-Star Skills Competition: Picking the Winners of Each Event

The highlight of NHL All-Star weekend is the skills competition on Saturday night and there are a total of six exciting events for hockey fans to enjoy.

Team Alfredsson and Team Chara will go head to head in the All-Star Game on Sunday in Ottawa, but the night before they will battle each other through several awesome challenges.

Here are the events your favorite players will compete in:

• Fastest Skater
• Breakaway Challenge
• Accuracy Shooting
• Challenge Relay
• Hardest Shot
• Elimination Shootout

Each event has its own challenges and elements that make it very fun to watch, and with the players taking them very seriously there is no shortage of competitiveness throughout the night.

The teams will accumulate points based on the players who win each event. Different amounts of points are awarded for each event. The only event that doesn't have an individual winner is the relay challenge.

I give the rules for each event but if you are still confused, feel free to check out NHL.com's skills challenge page.

Let's pick the winners for each skills competition.

Fastest Skater: Marian Gaborik

In the fastest skater competition five players compete in a race around the outside of the rink. The order is: Backwards, Goalies, Rookies, two All-Stars.

Team Chara has many speedy skaters including New York Rangers forward Marian Gaborik and Boston Bruins forward Tyler Seguin. Gaborik is probably the fastest player in the NHL, with his quickness and athleticism giving him a tremendous advantage in this competition.

Team Alfredsson will be counting on Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos to give them an edge in this competition. Stamkos posted one of the best times in the fastest skater competition last season and is one of the stars most likely to make the final.

I expect a final race between Gaborik and Stamkos with the Rangers star coming out on top by a narrow margin in a close and exciting finish.

Breakaway Challenge: Pavel Datsyuk

In the breakaway challenge three players from each team are allowed to use the entire offensive zone to try to score in the coolest way possible. The best goals will be determined by fan voting via text message. Each player who gets the most fan votes will score a point for his team. Shootout rules do not apply in this event, so there is a great amount of creativity that comes into play.

Team Chara has some really talented and creative goal scorers that have great dangling moves and quickness. Players such as Pavel Datsyuk, Tyler Seguin, Patrick Kane, Corey Perry, and Evgeni Malkin are some of the craftiest offensive stars in the league, so I expect Team Chara to win this event rather comfortably.

Team Alfredsson has some really good players, but doesn't have the offensive firepower that Team Chara does. Seeing as this competition is really a popularity contest, Team Alfredsson will certainly benefit from having almost all the hometown Ottawa Senators on their side.

Accuracy Shooting: Daniel Sedin

In the accuracy shooting competition there are four destructable targets placed in each of the four corners of the net, and the player that destroys these targets the fastest wins the round. Players shooting stand 25 feet from the net and receive passes from teammates who are standing at the sides of the net. The player on each team with the fastest time faces the other in the final.

Daniel Sedin and Patrick Kane squared off in the final last season, and I see no reason they won't face off again. I expect Sedin to win because of his incredible shot accuracy and exceptional hand-eye coordination.

Relay Challenge: Team Chara

The rules are complicated so I have posted them below, courtesy of NHL.com.

Since Team Chara has more offensive talent I would expect them to come out on top in this competition. The Bruins captain has a better combination of speed and skills than the Senators captain's roster, so I would be shocked if Team Chara lost this battle.

Hardest Shot: Zdeno Chara

Four players on each team will compete in the hardest shot competition, with the player from each team who records the fastest shot meeting in the finals. Each shooter will receive two attempts and will shoot in the center of the ice 30 feet from goal. Shots must be on target for the attempt to count.

Last season Zdneo Chara and Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber met in the final and the Bruins captain won the competition with a record 105.9 mph shot.

Weber will certainly be looking to avenge this loss but Chara is also motivated to reach the 106 mark and set a new record. This is certainly one of the coolest and most fun events to watch of the night.

Shootout Challenge: Corey Perry

The shootout challenge consists of 11 players participating in a shootout format with normal penalty shot rules. In the first round each player gets one attempt and those who score move onto the next rounds. Goalies will switch after four shot attempts.

Here are the rules for the competition after the first round has been completed, courtesy of NHL.com:

This will be an awesome event to watch because while Team Chara has the most offensive talent for this event, Team Alfredsson has the best shootout goalie in Rangers star Henrik Lundqvist. St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott is also on Team Alfredsson and he leads the NHL in GAA.

With shootout stars such as Corey Perry (last year's winner in this competition), Pavel Datsyuk, Evgeni Malkin, and Tyler Seguin, Team Chara will win this competition and win the All-Star Skills Challenge by having the most points at the end of the night.

Follow Nicholas Goss on Twitter for NHL news and analysis. Follow @NicholasGoss35.

Nicholas Goss is a Boston Bruins Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and was the organization's on-site reporter for the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals in Boston.