Boston Bruins Zdeno Chara Could Reclaim Hardest Shot Crown
By Jay Peterson
Up until last season, at the 2015 NHL All Star Skills Competition, Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara was the reigning champion of the Hardest Shot Competition. However, with Chara getting injured and never hitting full stride last year, he was not included in the All Star Competitions and, as a result, surrendered the title to Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber.
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Although Weber did not exceed Chara’s hardest shot record of 108.8 mph (Weber shot 108.5 mph), he is still the reigning champion of the Hardest Shot Competition. Usually, no one but Weber has ever gotten close to rivaling Chara, so if Chara’s game continues to drop, Shea Weber could become the king of the Hardest Shot for some time. It is very unfortunate that Chara was not able to take the title last season, but what is even more frustrating are the amount of other times he could have but was not able to.
From the year 2005 to 2012, Zdeno Chara won the Hardest Shot five times, with no one else winning it in between his victories. A lockout kept the 2005 All Star Competitions from happening and the Olympic games took place in 2006 and 2010 which resulted in no All Star Competitions during those seasons. What followed the year 2012 was a season shortened lockout, which, again, resulted in no 2013 All Star Competitions, and then another Olympics the season after, which resulted in no 2014 All Star Competitions.
Apr 11, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara (33) during the first period against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
So, due to two lockouts and three Olympics, Zdeno Chara missed out on five opportunities to win the Hardest Shot Competition and add to his already impressive winning streak. Whether Zdeno Chara would have won the Hardest Shot competition if the event took place in these years will remain a mystery, but the fact that he had excellent seasons and would have at least competed in the event is unmistakable.
When looking at the great Al MacInnis, the only player to have won the Hardest Shot Competition more times than Chara, we see that he won the title seven times from the year 1991 to 2003. While this is certainly an incredible achievement, it can be argued that Chara’s reign is more impressive. During MacInnis’ reign, he had surrendered the title on five different occasions (to Sergei Fedorov, Fredrik Modin, Dave Manson, and twice to Al Iafrate). On top of that, the only year, during the time of MacInnis, when the All Star Competitions were not going on was during the 1995 lockout.
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Al MacInnis was 39 years old when he was last hailed as champion of the Hardest Shot Competition. Zdeno Chara is currently 38 years old and has every chance of regaining his Norris winning form this season. If all goes well, Chara could find himself battling it out with Weber once again for the Hardest Shot championship. The question is, is Chara still capable of achieving All Star status?
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