Grenier, who represented the Dallas Stars, defeated Ben "uninsta1l" Thomson 2-0 in a best-of-3 series. Thomson, who represented the Edmonton Oilers and was the No. 4 seed in the tournament, lost 6-5 in Game 1, after Grenier scored with 17 seconds remaining, and 7-2 in Game 2.
The All-Star Open is the first event of the EA SPORTS NHL 23 World Championship esports season as part of the Gaming World Championship.
Among the attendees for the event was Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, who said he's been playing the EA SPORTS NHL series game since he was a kid, although he didn't claim to be among the better gamers in the NHL.
"I'm OK I think, but I haven't played against too many of the other guys," Barkov said. "I played
[Jonathan] Huberdeau
once and got crushed."
Also in attendance were Olympians Emily Clark and Sarah Nurse from Canada, and Alex Carpenter and Hilary Knight of the United States. The four played in a USA vs. Canada 3-on-3 game that Canada won in overtime.
Clark, who said she grew up playing the NHL games with her four older brothers, is excited that women's national hockey teams were included in the game for the second straight year.
"I would have killed for a chance to play as a women's hockey player when I was a kid," Clark said. "I grew up pretending to be Jarome Iginla and Joe Sakic, so for the girls to have a chance to play as us is huge and even more so for the boys to see us on the same level as the men is just as good."
It was a sweet victory for Grenier, who won the NHL/GWC North American Club championship in 2021, but lost in the final last year.
"I think it has been a while since I won my last [tournament] and it has been eating at me mentally," Grenier said. "It feels very good to win this one and get back on top."
Grenier advanced to the final after defeating Ethan "Polgz" Kerr-Polgarm who played with the Washington Capitals, in three games. Thomson defeated Ben "Dunkin deli" Pasqua, who played with the New Jersey Devils, in the other semifinal.
The 22-year-old Grenier, from Tomball, Texas, will now enjoy the rest of the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend, starting with the 2023 NHL All-Star Skills presented by DraftKings Sportsbook at FLA Live Arena on Friday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS).
He will also attend the 2023 NHL All-Star Game, also at FLA Live Arena, on Saturday. The Pacific Division will play the Central Division in the first All-Star Game semifinal, followed by the Atlantic Division against the Metropolitan Division (3 p.m. ET, ABC, ESPN+, CBC, SN, TVAS).
"I'm going to relax, I'm very excited for the All-Star game and the Skills competition," Grenier said, "I've never been before, so I know it's going to be a good time."
