Jan 27 BINGHAMTON NY License and Registration, please..
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- If you should happen to hit 102.1 on a radar gun, you'd better have a good explanation for the statie who pulled you over, or one heck of a slapshot.
Fortunately for Mark Mancari of the Rochester Americans, he is the possessor of the latter.
He's also the new owner of the record for the hardest slapshot in an AHL All-Star Skills Competition, having hit that aforementioned mark, tonight, eclipsing Kurtis Foster's five year old standard (101.0) set back in 2003.
Winding up for his second of two attempts, Mancari split the heart of the net with his drive. And when the supersonic clocking was announced, the full house at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena went nuts.
And to think thing that Mancari, who was a last minute All-Star addition, didn't think he'd hit it all that hard.
"I was amazed," he said. "I was sort of shaking my hand because I was excited. I didn't fell I'd hit the puck well. But I guess I did. I must have hit the puck in the right spot. It surprised me."
Mancari said that his shot, which is now the stuff of legend, is the by-product the 30 or so slappers he takes during a typical Amerks' practice.
"My dad had me in the basement when I was a kid," he said. "I work on my slapshot all the time. Whether it's during practice. After practice."
But even Mancari's feat was rivaled by the sniping of Manchester's Gabe Gauthier, who went four for four in the target shoot. That was something done just once before in the 12 previous AHL competitions.
“I took my time before I shot,” said Gauthier, “and made sure I aimed it properly, and got it hard to break the target. Those kind of things you can’t really practice for, because you don’t have that kind of time in a game. There was a lot of anticipation and nerves going in to it. But I just took my time.”
He also took some cash, having plucked $20 from Hartford's Greg Moore as payment for a wager.
(Gambling? At an All-Star Game? I'm shocked!)
"He bet me 20 bucks I couldn't go four for four," said Gauthier.
Tomorrow is the All-Star game itself, as well as the AHL Hall of Fame inductions, and the annual state of the league address by league president Dave Andrews. No doubt he'll be asked about the affiliation soap operas that are popping up in Philadelphia, Lowell, Portland, Rochester, and who knows where else.
Stay tuned.
Dan Hickling
in Hockey, Los Angeles Kings, Manchester Monarchs, American Hockey League
|
Post a Comment
View Printer Friendly Version
Email Article to Friend
Reader Comments