Boston Bruins: Zdeno Chara Still Holds Hardest Shot Record
Boston Bruins: Zdeno Chara Still Holds Hardest Shot Record After Shea Weber Falls Short
In 2011, Zdeno Chara won the hardest shot competition by setting a record of 105.9 miles per hour. Just one year later, the Boston Bruins’ captain shocked the hockey world when he blasted a shot that was recorded at 108.8 miles per hour.
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“Sometimes you don’t look exactly at the numbers,” Chara said after he won the hardest shot competition for the fifth consecutive time. “Sometimes you just want to win, Obviously (Shea Weber‘s) a great player in this league, and he has a really hard shot. We’ve been in the (hardest shot) finals together for the past few years. Really, I don’t go out there and try to get motivated that much. You just try to go out and do your best.”
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As Zdeno Chara mentioned, Shea Weber has been the closest competition that he has had for years. With Zdeno Chara missing the 2015 All-Star game due to injury — and realistically, he might not have made the game if he was healthy regardless due to his age and increasingly noticeable decline — Shea Weber finally had his chance to shine; an opportunity he didn’t let slip away. In 2015, Shea Weber’s first year as the odds-on favorite to win the hardest shot competition, he won the competition with a 108.5 miles per hour slap shot; only 0.3 miles per hour short of Chara’s all-time record. With Zdeno Chara not making the All-Star game for the second consecutive year and the 2016 All-Star game taking place in Nashville, Tennessee, many people anticipated Weber to beat Chara’s record.
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With all eyes locked on the hardest shot competition, Shea Weber did end up winning for the second consecutive year; his hardest shot however, was only — the word “only” is used loosely in this context — able to shoot the puck at 108.1 miles per hour. Following his eventual win, the fans in Nashville made it clear they wanted to see their captain get one last crack at the record and Shea Weber gladly obliged. His final shot rang in at 107.8 miles per hour, leaving Zdeno Chara as the reigning record holder for the competition for at least another year.
Follow Brandon Share-Cohen on Twitter @BShareCohen to discuss all things Bruins and sports