Before the accuracy competition, they told a story about when Brodie was one of the pee wee players at an NHL skills comp that I thought was pretty cool.
Found an article with more details than I could remember!
Quote:
At the ripe ol’ age of 11, TJ Brodie — captain of his peewee squad in Dresden, Ont., and one of the youngsters invited to join the stars for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ team skills competition in 2002 — figured his best bet to make an impression was by leaning into a slapper.
“I remember before it happened, when they told us what we were going to do in the skills competition, I was trying to trade a kid to do the hardest shot instead,” recalled Brodie, now in his fifth campaign as a full-timer for the Calgary Flames and one of the NHL’s most under-rated rearguards.
“I don’t really remember shooting. It’s something where you almost black out, and then when it’s done, you’re like ‘What happened?!?’
What happened is Brodie was a perfect four-for-four.
Four shots.
Four shattered targets.
All that Mats Sundin and Darcy Tucker — they combined for 65 goals for the Leafs that winter — could do was equal the feat.
Quote:
“They were all great. I remember we did a shootout after, and after I scored, I forget who it was — maybe (Tie) Domi or someone — came after me, and the guys on my team went after him. It was pretty funny.”
Backlund always had a terrific shot at these things. IIRC, he did place third on the team with Babchuk and Kotalik going 1 and 2. Say what you will about those two players, but they had absolute bombs, and everyone was surprised with Backlund next.
I think Backlund just doesn't get that time to unload it properly in a game. If he just found a way to utilize it in a game setting, it would definitely put him on the stats sheet more often. It just doesn't come out as a rocket during games. If I was Cameron, I would be practicing that with Backlund all the time and trying to see if he can unload it faster, as it would help the struggling PP out a bit.
Pretty safe to say they pad the stats at these things.
why would you say that? You don't believe these players could shoot over 100mph? Backlund may be the most surprising but all the other players should come as no surprise.
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Yeah that's exactly how I remembered it. Was a beauty of a shot and a great screen by Hudler. Backlund needs to shoot more, he does have a nice shot but it always seems labelled for the crest of the goalie.
