Garrison sure- shot for charity
Defenceman bests team record with 105.1 m. p. h. slapshot
If there were ever any doubts about which Vancouver Canuck possessed the hardest shot, defenceman Jason Garrison erased those at the NHL team’s annual SuperSkills event Saturday at Rogers Arena.
Garrison unloaded a blast of 105.1 m. p. h. — a personal best and team record — to easily blow away a limited field that included fellow defencemen Yannick Weber, Dan Hamhuis and Kevin Bieksa. Each player had two attempts from just beyond the hash marks. Garrison also had the second hardest shot at 100.7 m. p. h. Weber was the runner- up at 97 m. p. h. while Hamhuis finished third at 96.9 m. p. h. Bieksa, who took his first shot wearing goalie Eddie Lack’s mask, managed a best of 94.1. Garrison pretended to be perplexed by his success.
“I just caught the radar at the right moment, I guess,” the 29- year- old Garrison said, chuckling. “It looks like I am getting better with age. There was a lot of expectation on me and it was nice to fulfil it. I also think it’s a little easier when you go up against guys like Bieksa.”
In a sideshow, Lack and fellow netminder Joacim Eriksson took shots as well and it wasn’t close as Eriksson, shooting right, “drilled” the puck at 84.9 m. p. h. and 83.9 m. p. h. on his two attempts. Lack, shooting left, recorded muffins of 79.6 m. p. h. and 74.1 m. p. h..
Lack took his defeat like a man. “There are a lot of reasons for it that I can’t get into,” he said. “I’m just really happy for Eriksson. And there is always next year. I’ll be back.”
Fourth- line winger Dale Weise successfully defended his fastest skater title as he completed a lap of the rink in 14.266 seconds, edging Utica Comets call- up Darren Archibald ( 14.536) and Jannik Hansen ( 14.545).
Asked to explain his jets, Weise replied: “I don’t know if there’s a secret. I’m just really fast. I thought Jannik was my biggest competition and he ended up third. It’s all about how you take the turns — and it’s good bragging rights in the room.”
The rest of the six- man field included Zac Dalpe ( 14.552), Zack Kassian ( 14.729) and defenceman Frankie Corrado ( 15.017).
Daniel Sedin emerged as the most accurate shooter as he needed just five shots to hit the four targets. Mike Santorelli and Dalpe both went 4- for- 6 while Kassian, who had to endure catcalls from his teammates, didn’t hit a single target.
Kassian did labour under a handicap, however, as he had a camera attached to his stick and another attached to his chest.
“That probably didn’t help,” Weise said, taking pity on Kassian. “I don’t think anyone could have hit the targets with that.”
It was a theory Kassian was happy to confirm.
“The camera on my stick was heavy, probably 4 to 5 pounds,” he said. “I heard it from the guys for a little bit there but when I gave them my stick, they realized what I had to deal with. The event itself was awesome. I love it. It’s fun to give back. You see the fans are having some fun and we are, too.”
Daniel also had a theory on why he succeeded in the accuracy event.
“You don’t have to shoot that hard so it suits me really well,” he quipped.
In the puck control relay, the trio of Chris Higgins, Daniel and Tom Sestito defeated the threesome of Hamhuis, Santorelli and Corrado. In the oneonone puck control challenge, defenceman Chris Tanev edged Kassian.
Proceeds from the event go to the Canucks for Kids Fund and the NHL Players’ Association Goals and Dreams Fund.