NHL Superskills in Montreal

After the announcement of the winner of the Breakaway Challenge, we bring out the snipers for the NHL Accuracy Shooting competition. Many players compete in this event such as last year's winner Tomas Kaberle, Jonathan Toews, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jarome Iginla, Dany Heatly, Marc Savard, Mike Modano, and Evgeni Malkin.

All of these players are lethal on the scoresheet so it will most definitely be a close competition with many sudden death rounds I'm sure. Tomas Kaberle could easily take the win again but I believe it will be Jarome Iginla, and Marc Savard who give him a run for his money. Ultimately, I pick Savard to take this one home for the East.

And of course, the one everyone will be waiting for is the Hardest Shot competition. Showcasing the two heavy guns in Zdeno Chara and Sheldon Souray. Also competing in this event is Vinny Lecavalier, Mike Komisarek, Shea Weber, and Mark Streit.

We all know it will come down to Chara or Souray, but don't be too surprised if Weber or Lecavalier come on in and crash the party. For the past two years, Chara has claimed this title with shots coming in at 100.9 and 103.2.

However, this year at the Edmonton Oilers Skills Competition, Souray launched an amazing 106.7 mph shot unofficially beating the NHL record set by Al lafratete at 105.2 mph. This will be the closest competition of the night but I do believe that Souray will have the final say as he shatters the NHL record.

Lastly, every player will take part in the Elimination Shootout event. No crazy moves are needed to be put on here, just get the puck in the net and you move on. Many known snipers and danglers are at this all-star game, so it will be a long and intense event. The finals should come down to Jonathan Toews, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Evgeni Malkin.

This will be a very difficult competition with all the grade-A goaltending in this game. However, Dion Phaneuf did win it last year so it will be very interesting to see some guys shoot in this event, mainly the defence-man. Maybe if Souray just winds up for the slapshot the goalie will move out of the way so that he can have an empty net to shoot at.

This year's Superskills competition should be one of the best. Be sure to tune into it to see some amazing things happen such as Brian Campbell blowing our hats off as he competes for the fastest skater, or Alex Ovechkin making our jaws drop in the Breakaway Challenge.

We will witness the NHL Rookies get their butts handed to them by the Sophomores, and maybe Marc Savard going 4-for-4 on the accuracy shooting. If you watch only one event, it must be the hardest shot to see Chara go head to head with Souray for the title.

Perhaps another defenceman will win the Elimination Shootout, although its more likely for a sniper like Kovalchuk or Malkin to finish the job. No matter the results, this year's NHL Superskills competition will be one for the ages.

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