Skills competitions are a time when players get to show off their other-worldly abilities in the flashiest of ways. We all remember Trevor Zegras scoring a goal while blindfolded, and Connor McDavid whipping around the ice at seemingly super-human speeds, but recently there was a skill competition that was arguably just as memorable.
You see, it was conducted with the use of a 40-pound stick.
Our own Jesse, Luca, and Corwin traveled to Newport to meet up with a handful of CHL players. This included Oshawa Generals defenceman David Bedkowski, Flint Firebirds forward Nathan Aspinall, Brandon Wheat Kings defenceman Charlie Elick, and Erie Otters goalie Jacob Gibbons.
Both the professional hockey players and amateur hockey players (us) had a decent amount of trouble with the heavy stick, except for Elick who somehow managed to beat Corwin and Jesse when they were using a regular stick.
The hardest shot competition was particularly problematic, with a number of participants hitting the deck. Not only that, but the shot speed clock didn’t seem to work very well.
We’re just glad no one got hurt, even though Jesse declined to use elbow pads and nearly cracked a bone as a result.
