103.2mph Hardest shot in NHL * Elias Petterson*

[IBatch]

1 hour ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

Yeah back around, I guess the early 90s, the skills competition really had a bit more of a feel of the Olympics.  It actually mattered who was the fastest skater, who had the hardest shot.  The events were simple and basic, like a track meet, which lent an air of legitimacy.  Same as how the all star game itself has become a bit of a circus act...even the skills competition has had the same fate.

 

I'm happy for Pettersson for sure...but it felt like there was more at stake back when Iafrate was doing it for whatever reason.

EPs career arc should propel him into stardom - where exactly is still not scripted.   Kovalev would be one heck of a career .... there was a time when some felt the guy was the most skilled on the planet but just couldn't make it work due to effort.   Don't think that's going to be EP, but also think he's got a ways to go to get into that range still - and should make it.    Most players have their best seasons older than he is now....and he's got the IT factor when it comes to training and drilling.   Naslund and the Sedins took off older than he his now.  

 

As for the All-star game absolutely agree.  It did use to have a track star meet to it.   Anyone could do the fastest skater, and they only took the top guys...as mentioned and maybe someone can post this - the 1996 fastest skater competition was the best i've ever seen.   And had guys like Hedican, Sean Mecheran, Plant going at it with Federov,  Amonte, Bondra, and the comissioners choice in Gartner who'd been around forever (17 years) competing .... with a whistle start - no cones outlining the inside track (these guys did the outside of the rink, sometimes hitting it) qualifying in the mid 13's .... McDavid ... wouldn't be at all special in that class and hasn't done a lap faster then Gartner yet, same as Larkin.   When you get to start before the whistle, have the time started after your first stride or two, even doing the inside track is going to add significant time.   Bure was so fast one year, fell behind the net and still beat some of the guys yesterdays time.    Gartner ... the idea the games faster is correct - removing the redline and adding another pass, and taking obstruction and most of the hitting out of the game puts the camera on a swivel.  

 

Not saying there isn't fast players today because of course there are.   But it's not like there wasn't fast players back then either.    As for the hardest shot,  that's the sticks.   Give them all wooden ones and see if anyone can pound it harder than Wilson, Al Mac and Ifrate.    As for goalies ... well before the league watered itself down and obstruction became the counter, Roy's .905 was sparkling ... later added .10-.15 during the dead puck era like everyone else. 

[RU SERIOUS]

7 hours ago, tas said:

if you're going to be a misogynist, at least be clever about it and say "chickmunks".

 

ideally neither though. 

Interesting suggestion but Chick-Munks would come across as sexist which would upset many millenials and therefore inappropriate as everyone simply knows them as "Alvin and the Chipmunk Girls" for being the jovial cartoon characters they are,

Edited February 4 by RU SERIOUS

[tas]

2 minutes ago, RU SERIOUS said:

Interesting suggestion but Chick-Munks would come across as sexist which would upset many millenials !

referring to their sex and/or gender in a context where it's utterly irrelevant is already being sexist, so you don't really need to worry about how it comes across. 

 

by the way, why do derek clancey, dale tallon and ryan johnson get a pass with you? or are they among the "chipmunk girls"?

[SilentSam]

Thinking:

 

“ hmmm , that weight training paid off”

 

Cant wait for this Summer .

 

[Dr. Crossbar]

The All-Star Game is now more like Battle of the Network Stars ... 

 

 

 

[Kevin Biestra]

25 minutes ago, IBatch said:

EPs career arc should propel him into stardom - where exactly is still not scripted.   Kovalev would be one heck of a career .... there was a time when some felt the guy was the most skilled on the planet but just couldn't make it work due to effort.   Don't think that's going to be EP, but also think he's got a ways to go to get into that range still - and should make it.    Most players have their best seasons older than he is now....and he's got the IT factor when it comes to training and drilling.   Naslund and the Sedins took off older than he his now.  

 

As for the All-star game absolutely agree.  It did use to have a track star meet to it.   Anyone could do the fastest skater, and they only took the top guys...as mentioned and maybe someone can post this - the 1996 fastest skater competition was the best i've ever seen.   And had guys like Hedican, Sean Mecheran, Plant going at it with Federov,  Amonte, Bondra, and the comissioners choice in Gartner who'd been around forever (17 years) competing .... with a whistle start - no cones outlining the inside track (these guys did the outside of the rink, sometimes hitting it) qualifying in the mid 13's .... McDavid ... wouldn't be at all special in that class and hasn't done a lap faster then Gartner yet, same as Larkin.   When you get to start before the whistle, have the time started after your first stride or two, even doing the inside track is going to add significant time.   Bure was so fast one year, fell behind the net and still beat some of the guys yesterdays time.    Gartner ... the idea the games faster is correct - removing the redline and adding another pass, and taking obstruction and most of the hitting out of the game puts the camera on a swivel.  

 

Not saying there isn't fast players today because of course there are.   But it's not like there wasn't fast players back then either.    As for the hardest shot,  that's the sticks.   Give them all wooden ones and see if anyone can pound it harder than Wilson, Al Mac and Ifrate.    As for goalies ... well before the league watered itself down and obstruction became the counter, Roy's .905 was sparkling ... later added .10-.15 during the dead puck era like everyone else. 

 

Yeah I remember Linden actually performed quite well at the fastest skater one year in the early 90s.  I think that year it was just a goal line to goal line sprint.  That seemed to be what separated Gartner and Coffey if I remember.  Gartner had the pure sprinter acceleration but as soon as anything involving turns or grace was involved, nobody could touch Coffey.

 

[higgyfan]

1 hour ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

Sure the players I mentioned have that quality.  Gamble kept at it until concussions made it impossible.  Corey Hirsch fought through mental illness to have a career.

 

You seriously think Pettersson would have had 100 points in a season already if not for JT Miller?  You can't be serious.  Isn't it Pettersson who was benefiting from more possession because JT was taking his faceoffs for him?

 

 

 

 

Pete's 24yrs old and just entering his prime.  He will likely get +35 goals and +100pts this season.  His boyish

frame and the major wrist injury has delayed his inevitable growth, but he has finally found his rightful place

as the Canucks franchise player. 

 

Compared to last year, Pete is clearly trending upward, while Miller is heading south this season.  Imo,

The '20/'21 (Pete on IR) Miller's #s drop, as do Bo's.

 

Miller needs a teammate that has a high IQ, quick (and accurate) passing, who can be a playmaker or

score goals and is a C that plays at the top 6 level.  Maybe Raty can fill that role, or perhaps the Canucks

'get lucky' in the draft and acquire one of the to 5oa.  It's anyone's guess how long it will take for these

2 young C's will take to claim the 2C role.  They may have to bring a vet in for a couple of years or

leave JT as a C. Hopefully he ends up with a pair of top 6 wingers, if that's the case.

 

[IBatch]

1 hour ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

Yeah I remember Linden actually performed quite well at the fastest skater one year in the early 90s.  I think that year it was just a goal line to goal line sprint.  That seemed to be what separated Gartner and Coffey if I remember.  Gartner had the pure sprinter acceleration but as soon as anything involving turns or grace was involved, nobody could touch Coffey.

 

Coffey was my favourite skater growing up.    Messier was  pretty quick too, same with Glen Anderson, Oilers had speed to burn... Coffey sped up gliding or so it seemed....It would be neat if someone could add the 96 all-star game fastest skater video.    There was at least another half dozen or so guys you'd think could make the finals - Selanne, Kariya, Yzerman, Coffey etc ... A 14 second lap under the old rules was fast - and yet there was a pile of guys qualifying in the mid 13's...Gartner wouldn't have been the guy that came to mind when it came to speed back then yet there he was tearing around the ice at 36 or so.    

[KyGuy123]

I think Tage Thompson would have given him a run for his money. 

[Kevin Biestra]

10 hours ago, IBatch said:

Coffey was my favourite skater growing up.    Messier was  pretty quick too, same with Glen Anderson, Oilers had speed to burn... Coffey sped up gliding or so it seemed....It would be neat if someone could add the 96 all-star game fastest skater video.    There was at least another half dozen or so guys you'd think could make the finals - Selanne, Kariya, Yzerman, Coffey etc ... A 14 second lap under the old rules was fast - and yet there was a pile of guys qualifying in the mid 13's...Gartner wouldn't have been the guy that came to mind when it came to speed back then yet there he was tearing around the ice at 36 or so.    

Yeah Gartner was stealthy...on the ice and statistically.  I remember there was very little talk about the Hall of Fame during his career and then one day everybody kind of looked at each other and said he's almost at 700 goals.

 

[Canuck You]

On 2/3/2023 at 8:34 PM, Dazzle said:

I'm really confused. The Sportsnet feed showed two 100 mph shots. The ESPN one said 103.2, so he ended up winning the competition. Sportsnet dropped the ball or something?

Yupp, They changed it after.

[IBatch]

6 hours ago, Kevin Biestra said:

Yeah Gartner was stealthy...on the ice and statistically.  I remember there was very little talk about the Hall of Fame during his career and then one day everybody kind of looked at each other and said he's almost at 700 goals.

 

Robataille would be the other guy ... wasn't fast but knew how to play the game.   Gartner for me was best remembered with some killer facial hair - would give Babych, Snepsts and Tom Selleck a run for their money with his mustache game.   

 

Edited February 5 by IBatch

[Kevin Biestra]

15 minutes ago, IBatch said:

Robataille would be the other guy ... wasn't fast but knew how to play the game.   Gartner for me was best remembered with some killer facial hair - would give Babych, Snepsts and Tom Selleck a run for their money with his mustache game.   

 

 

Yeah it never looked right to me when he got rid of it.  It is like when Donald Sutherland doesn't have a mustache or beard.  I figure Gartner could have grown some decent playoff beards if his teams ever went anywhere (Coffey was a real dark horse in this department) but there was literally no competition for Dave Babych other than maybe his brother Wayne.  Dave would start growing playoff beards with the Canucks and have to just get rid of it after the first round because he already looked like ZZ Top.

[Barnstorm]

11 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

Yeah it never looked right to me when he got rid of it.  It is like when Donald Sutherland doesn't have a mustache or beard.  I figure Gartner could have grown some decent playoff beards if his teams ever went anywhere (Coffey was a real dark horse in this department) but there was literally no competition for Dave Babych other than maybe his brother Wayne.  Dave would start growing playoff beards with the Canucks and have to just get rid of it after the first round because he already looked like ZZ Top.

Lanny says hi. 

[Kevin Biestra]

30 minutes ago, Barnstorm said:

Lanny says hi. 

 

Yeah not just the mustache but his 89 beard was a thing of glory.  Still, Babych would have probably wrecked it.

 

 

[OldFaithfulCap]

22 hours ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

Yeah I remember Linden actually performed quite well at the fastest skater one year in the early 90s.  I think that year it was just a goal line to goal line sprint.  That seemed to be what separated Gartner and Coffey if I remember.  Gartner had the pure sprinter acceleration but as soon as anything involving turns or grace was involved, nobody could touch Coffey.

 

I remember one year watching it and seeing guys trying to go fast, this was 2004 so i think it was st louis whose legs were moving like crazy. Then Scott Niedermayer came out and looked like he was just out for a stroll but his smooth consistent pace was the fastest. Stuck with me about how smoother motion is way better than legs going a million miles.

 

 

[Kevin Biestra]

1 minute ago, OldFaithfulCap said:

I remember one year watching it and seeing guys trying to go fast, this was 2004 so i think it was st louis whose legs were moving like crazy. Then Scott Niedermayer came out and looked like he was just out for a stroll but his smooth consistent pace was the fastest. Stuck with me about how smoother motion is way better than legs going a million miles.

 

Yeah Paul Coffey was like that.  In terms of Canucks so was Doug Lidster in his way and maybe Bret Hedican too to some degree.

[Jaimito]

Let's see if Patrick Allvin still says we don't have a superstar on our team when the contract negotiations come up for EP. 

 

 

[GB5]

On 2/3/2023 at 9:00 PM, Western Red said:

Hardest shot is the best. Iafrate was the first one I saw.

 

Weber, Chara, MacInnis, Aucoin, Iggy.

 

We need more Bucks like those.. seeing Morrissey in the lineup was tough.

Its really the only thing interesting on this side show that used to be a skills competition.

 

 

 

Edited February 5 by GB5

[IBatch]

15 hours ago, Jaimito said:

Let's see if Patrick Allvin still says we don't have a superstar on our team when the contract negotiations come up for EP. 

 

 

A superstar...by definition there can only be a few in the league at one time.   They are a level above the rest of their class.    Perrenial first and second team all-stars.    Let's see him get there first.