NHL Skills Competition 2012: Why Hockey's All-Star Saturday Beats NBA's Version

The 2012 NHL Skills Competition is Saturday night in Ottawa, and hockey's version of All-Star Saturday has become so entertaining that it trumps the NBA's version in every aspect.

Hockey's version of All-Star Saturday has so many unique events that display all the skills the sport's best players have to offer.

Fastest skater, accuracy shooting, the elimination shootout and the hardest shot are just four of the awesome events that are quite exciting to watch.

The NBA's events such as the three-point shootout and the slam dunk contest have gotten so old and boring that they are not even worth watching if something better is on television.

The slam dunk contest in particular has really gotten bad. For the better part of the 2000s the competition was terrible, and after Orlando Magic star center Dwight Howard brought it back in 2008 and 2009, the event has again become boring.

The reason for this is the creativity isn't there anymore, and while this may not be the fault of the players since there's only so many ways to dunk a basketball without ripping off previous dunks, the event just lacks the needed level of originality. Originality is never an issue with many of the NHL's skill competitions, which means the event is always refreshing.

The NHL also does a tremendous job of making sure many rookies participate in the Skills Competition, which means every team is represented in at least one event. At least one rookie has to take part in every event for each team.

This is a great way for fans of struggling teams to have their team represented and have something to cheer for. Too often are the NBA All-Star Game rosters and participants in the Saturday events from too few teams.

The NBA lineup of All-Star Saturday needs new events and more ways to get a larger number of players from more teams involved.

The NHL has passed the NBA in creating an exciting All-Star Saturday that has something for everyone. Hockey is a special sport with many unique talents, and the NHL makes sure those skills are showcased for the fans during All-Star weekend.

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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.