It has long been known that Arber Xhekaj has the strength of a Hercules. The difference is that he shows it now with the puck.
The big defender fired what could be described as a lead on Sunday during the most powerful shot event at the Canadian skills competition. His slap shot reached 107.2 miles per hour, much to the delight of the crowd.
For comparison, the National League record, which still belongs to retired Zdeno Chara, is 108.8 miles per hour. No other CH player, nor any of the eight players from the Montreal LPHF team present, even came close to doing better than Xhekaj.
“I didn’t think I could be as close as him,” said the main person. But 107 is pretty good. The next step [est peut-être de battre Chara]. »
“I knew I could do better than 100, but I don’t always reach that,” he added.
I already did 105, I thought that was the maximum I could achieve.
Arber Xhekaj
Asked by a colleague whether there was a pride factor that came into play, the tall 72 answered in the negative, specifying however that his new title would allow him to have the “rights of [se] boast » [bragging rights]. “Guys like [Michael] Pezzetta, they care a lot about this kind of thing,” he added with a laugh.
His teammates, in fact, did not seem the least bit surprised by Xhekaj’s power.
“Surprised, no,” said Joshua Roy. His throw is so powerful. We didn’t know how he was going to do it, but we knew he was going to do a lot. »
“I would have put my money on him. I went to see [Cayden] Primeau and Jake [Allen] afterwards and I said: “luckily we weren’t in the net,” said Samuel Montembeault, smiling. Mitten-wise, I think if you didn’t put it in the basket, you’d probably break your hand. »
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Samuel Montembeault
Xhekaj, who was obviously having a great day, added more during the shootout. The defender skillfully passed the puck between his legs before going around the goalkeeper, whose identity is, however, unknown.
“I’m pretty confident in my shootout. I always say to [Alex] Burrows that he has to send me, but we haven’t really had the chance to do it, he mentioned. We have a lot of good shooters. »
Michigan Sarah
A new event voted on by Canadian players was added to the list this year; that of Michigan. The players had one minute to do as much Michigan as possible.
This time, it was a female player rather than a male player who stood out. Attacker Sarah Bujold put on the Michigan without any difficulty, under the amazed gaze of the entire amphitheater. Paul Byron, present on the ice as host for a day, gave him the nickname Michigan Sarah.
“I wasn’t planning on doing it, but it turned out well,” said the 27-year-old New Brunswicker with a laugh.
Could she do it in a match?
“Oh my god, I think I’m going to need a lot more practice doing this in a match!” » she replied.
” Do it ! » said Marie-Philip Poulin, sitting nearby in the conference room.
Among the Canadians, Joshua Roy is the only player to have played for Michigan, despite himself…
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Joshua Roy challenges Michigan
“The guys said they couldn’t do it. There weren’t many people who wanted to. They asked Cole [Caufield] and he said, no, Josh is going to be better. I was like: no. But I didn’t have a say, I was the one who went,” the young man recounted with a laugh.
“At first I was embarrassed. It was quiet and I wasn’t able to get the puck up [sur ma palette]. It’s the same all the time, I’ve never really been able to do it. It’s for fun, so it’s no more serious than that! »
“It will be necessary that [Sarah Bujold] give me stuff! »