PRE-GAME: CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game Skills Competition

The 2011 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game Skills Competition is tonight at 8:00 pm at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. As far as we know, there will be no television or webcast coverage of the event.

Four Saint John Sea Dogs will show off their skills tonight in front of fans, scouts, and media. Defenseman Nathan Beaulieu will participate in the fastest skater competition, Zach Phillips in the shooting accuracy event, and Jonathan Huberdeau and Tomas Jurco will take part in the breakaway/shootout contest.

There will also be a three-on-three game, giving players lots of ice to work with to display their skill.

Of course, the ‘Show-Down Breakaway Contest’ is already highly anticipated with YouTube star Tomas Jurco taking part in the event. Sunaya Supurji had a great article on Jurco over at Yahoo! today, where it was said he hasn’t been practicing anything out-of-the-ordinary for tonight’s event.

“I’ll try my usual moves,” Jurco said Monday upon his arrival in Toronto. “Hopefully, if the goalie hasn’t seen them (on YouTube), it will work.”

He also shed some light on how he decides on what move to use when it counts.

“Not everything I do in practice I can do in a game. Unless I’m 100 percent sure (I can score), I won’t try it in a game,” said Jurco of his spectacular skills. “I’ve been doing some of these moves, like that spin-o-rama, for years so I was sure I could do it. If I’m not going to score, it doesn’t matter what I do."

Via HockeySense.ca, here is what the Quebec Major Junior Hockey Leaguers will be doing at tonight’s skills competition (full list HERE):

Fastest Skater
Nathan Beaulieu, Saint John Sea Dogs

Shooting Accuracy
Zack Phillips, Saint John Sea Dogs
Sean Couturier, Drummondville Voltigeurs
Phillip Danault, Victoriaville Tigres

Show-Down Breakaway Contest
Jonathan Huberdeau, Saint John Sea Dogs
Xavier Ouellet, Montreal Juniors
Tomas Jurco, Saint John Sea Dogs

Goaltenders
Christopher Gibson, Chicoutimi Sagueneens
David Honzik, Victoriaville Tigres

The Top Prospects Game will be played tomorrow night at 8:00 pm. It can be seen live on Rogers Sportsnet and RDS. The event's website has some great videos from practice and off-ice tests.