SUNRISE | Nick Suzuki won a weird golf contest by throwing a white puck. He beat Clayton Keller, Jason Robertson and Johnny Gaudreau, three other star strikers. But it wasn’t the Canadian captain’s highlight.
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Suzuki will be more likely to remember meeting Corey Conners, a Canadian golfer who ranks 35th on the PGA.
“I’m about a ten handicap at golf,” underlined the number 14. Playing a few holes with Corey was incredible. I had the pleasure of watching him play. He hits the ball with so much composure and precision. He finished at -4 for the five holes we played. It was really a cool experience. For my part, I finished with plus two or three. »
Suzuki took advantage of the hot Florida sun to hit the small white ball on Thursday, the eve of the skill contest.
“Corey is a big hockey fan,” said the Habs captain. He’s from a town not far from London, Ontario, so we did have a few things in common. He’s another guy from Ontario. »
“On the field, we talked more about golf than hockey. But if he gets a chance to come to Montreal, I’ll get him tickets to the Canadiens. I really had fun with him. I had rented sticks to play with. So I had no expectations of my results. I missed a few shots. But for a par three I found myself closer to him off the hole after our tee shots. However, he made his putt to get a birdie. I couldn’t laugh at him anymore! »
Pettersson’s power
Zdeno Chara and Shea Weber have won the popular competition for the hardest shot more than once. At 6 feet 9 inches and 250 pounds, Chara had the typical bomb-dropping physique. Ditto for Weber at 6’4″ and 230 lbs.
The new master of this test is a bit thinner. Elias Pettersson shot 103.2 mph. If he’s tall enough at 6ft 2in, he’ll stop the scales at 176lbs.
“I know I’m not the greatest,” he said with a smile. But there is a lot of practice behind this shot. I have muscle memory from the reps, I have good timing, and I get the most power from the flexibility of my racquet. »