Team Lidstrom might’ve lost to the finesse players on Team Staal tonight, but Dustin Byfuglien proved to anyone who doubted it that he has a beast of a shot. In the hardest shot competition, Byfuglien was matched up against Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets. On his first attempt, Buff shot it at 101.3 miles an hour. Nash only fired it at 88.5. Byfuglien’s second shot was even faster, registering in at 102.4, while Nash’s puttered in at 91.4. Combined, Byfuglien beat Nash by 23 MPH.
Byfuglien had to beat Zdeno Chara and Shea Weber, though, and that’s a tough thing for anyone to do. Nashville’s Weber bested Chara 104.8 to 103.7 during their round, and faced off again in the final. Weber’s fastest shot again maxed out at 104.8, but the big Bruins defenseman had motivation to not only beat Weber but his own record, and did. He set a new hardest shot record at 105.9 MPH.
That’s a piece of galvanized rubber coming at you 105.9 MPH. People lay down to block that. Goalies have that fired at them. In case you had any doubts about hockey being one of the most physically punishing sports in the world, there you go.