Laine more accurate than an atomic clock

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This article was published 17/12/2016 (3259 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Patrik Laine came oh so close Friday to sweeping the shooting events at the Winnipeg Jets Skills Competition.

The 18-year-old Finn, who leads NHL rookies with 17 goals, dominated the accuracy event, but was edged by teammate Dustin Byfuglien — 101.3 m.p.h. to 101.2 m.ph. — in the hardest shot competition.

Did he consider borrowing Byfuglien’s stick to get an edge?

“No, I think it’s too stiff for me — I think I would’ve cracked my hands,” said Laine, who uses a stick with an 87 flex rating, considerably more whippy than Byfuglien’s 122 flex model.

“I didn’t wanna try.”

Byfuglien’s win came at the expense of two-time defending champ Ben Chiarot. Chiarot won the event with a blast of 107.7 m.p.h. last year, but did not take part in the event for an undisclosed reason Friday.

“Benny obviously can’t shoot today, he’s got a boo-boo,” Byfuglien told the MTS Centre crowd of 12,898.

Byfuglien’s individual win helped Team Blue defeat Team White 44-17 in the team competition.

Laine (Team White) made quick work of the accuracy event, coolly demolishing four targets in four tries in a competition-record 8.4 seconds.

Mark Scheifele finished second, going 4-for-5 in 9.9 seconds.

“Yeah, I’ve always practised accuracy,” said Laine.

 

“It’s nice to show everybody that I’m pretty good at what I’m doing and, yeah, it was pretty easy to hit the targets.”

— Patrik Laine

 

The event had an informal, fan-friendly atmosphere that included prize giveaways and autographs.

Team Blue forward Chris Thorburn was a member of the winning side for the fifth consecutive time.

“Five times in a row, man, you don’t hear about that too often,” joked Thorburn. “I take a lot of pride in it, obviously. It might be the only thing I win.

“I’ve always got this to look back to (and) tell the kids about…

“It’s going on the resumé. I’m a champion, five times in a row.”

Thorburn also relished the opportunity to interact with the youthful audience at the MTS Centre. The glass was removed from the sides of the arena to allow fans to get up close and personal.

“We’re excited about coming to the rink and just having a good time,” said Thorburn. “…You get to sign some autographs, talk to the fans and then bust guys’ chops a little, depending on how they do in the competition.

“It’s always fun that way.”

In other events:

Fastest-skater competition

Two-time champion Paul Postma did not defend his crown Friday, opening the door for Nikolaj Ehlers, who set a competition record with a scorching time of 13.29 seconds (eclipsing Scheifele’s 2013 mark of 13.67 seconds).

Relay competition

The quartet of Scheifele, Mathieu Perreault, Ehlers and Connor Hellebuyck zipped through the multi-skill event with a clocking of 1:08.4.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14