Nikita Kucherov gets booed by Toronto crowd as Lightning star gives minimal effort at NHL All-Star Skills night

Bryan Murphy

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Nikita Kucherov gets booed by Toronto crowd as Lightning star gives minimal effort at NHL All-Star Skills night image

Nikita Kucherov stole the show during the 2024 NHL All-Star Skills competition — but for all the wrong reasons. 

The Lightning star is one of the most intriguing personalities in the league. Kucherov has a subdued sense of humor, but fans have seen him show his wild side every once and awhile. Perhaps his most notable incident occurred after the 2022 Stanley Cup when he did a press conference shirtless and a beer in hand. 

However, he was far from a fan favorite on Friday night, as the Tampa Bay forward was on the receiving end of a shower of boos from the Toronto crowd at the NHL All-Star Skills competition. 

Kucherov's efforts during the skills challenge were minimal at best. The Lightning winger put together a respectable effort in the Shooting Accuracy challenge, but his showings in the Passing Challenge and Stick Handling drills very much deserved the jeers. 

MORE: Results, highlights from 2024 NHL All-Star Skills competition

First, Kucherov fumbled through the start of the Passing Challenge, and once his first few attempts missed the targets, the Russian decided to take it easy the rest of the way. He ended up with five points before time ran out, good enough to finish 11th out of the 11 skaters in the challenge. 

Then, the two-time Stanley Cup champion elected to take a Sunday stroll in the park during the Stick Handling challenge, taking his time through the event. He ended the challenge in 44.178, finishing ninth of the nine participants. 

"This is not a good look, quite frankly," John Buccigross said on the ESPN broadcast. "And the fans are booing him. And that's what happens when you don't try your best and you're in a hockey city like Toronto." 

Due to his poor showings, Kucherov finished last in Round 1, and was one of the fourth participants that failed to advance to the second round. Based on his attitude, it seems like that may have been his goal after all. 

The lack of effort at NHL All-Star Weekend is not exactly a new phenomenon. There's a reason why the NHL added a $1 million cash prize for the Skills competition. However, it didn't stop Kucherov from registering a negative value on the "give-a-crap" meter. 

Kucherov's antics made for a hot topic online. 

Bryan Murphy

Bryan Murphy Photo

Bryan Murphy joined The Sporting News in 2022 as the NHL/Canada content producer. Previously he worked for NBC Sports on their national news desk reporting on breaking news for the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL, in addition to covering the 2020 and 2022 Olympic Games. A graduate of Quinnipiac University, he spent time in college as a beat reporter covering the men’s ice hockey team.