OTTAWAThe Bruins were well-represented in the NHL All-Star Skills Competition at Scotiabank Place,and the players fomTeam Chara gave it their best shot inthe skills challenges. But it was the hometown Team Alfredsson that took home the 21-12 victory over Charas hand-picked playersdespite theB's Captain's squadwinning each of the first three competitions en route to a big victory with some pretty cool highlights along the way. Here are the breakdowns of each competition with some description of the Bs involvement:
Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater: It was down to rookies Carl Hagelin (New York Rangers) and Colin Greening (Ottawa Senators) in the final heat, and it appeared Haggs who I was clearly rooting for given his namewon the race when his body crossed the finish line first. But a review of the tape (yes, they really went to the video replay) showed that Greenings extended stick actually crossed the line before the Rags speedy rookie.
Allstate Insurance NHL Breakaway Challenge: Carey Price nearly stole the show with his blind goaltender and backwards save stops in the crease while NHL breakaway artists converged on him. But Pat Kane eventually stole the show when he donned a Superman cape and Clark Kent glasses for a pair of winning attemptsone a hand-to-stick pass on his belly that had an Up, up and away flair to it and the second an exploding puck clearly brought on by Kanes super-strength. Corey Perry finished as the runner-up after several creative moves including using a mini-stick in his final shootout attempt.
Canadian Tire NHL Accuracy Shooting: It ended with Philadelphia Flyers rookie Matt Read going up against Dallas Stars Jamie Benn fresh off an appendectomy. Benn took it in dominant fashion while Bs forward Tyler Seguin struggled with Phil Kessel feeding him passes in the preliminary accuracy rounds.G Series NHL Skills Relay Challenge: Henrik and Daniel Sedin dominated with their feathery passing and soft hockey skills and registered an easy victory for Team Alfredsson.
Blackberry NHL Hardest Shot: Zdeno Chara captured his fifth straight hardest shot title after defeating Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber yet again with a record 108.8-mph slap shot. Chara broke his own personal record with an earlier shot of 106.2-mph on the evening and then completely shattered that seconds later by becoming the first NHL player to top 108-mph with a slapper. Said Chara on the ice right after the contest was over, I had great years in Ottawa. I wanted to break the record here.
Tim Hortons NHL Elimination Shootout: It comes down to John Tavares, Jason Pominville and Steve Stamkos in the final rounds of the shootout, and Stamkos was able to beat Jimmy Howard in the final round to take home the victory. Tyler Seguin was eliminated in the early rounds on an outstanding save by St. Louis Blues goaltender Brian Elliott.