Sabres’ Ristolainen breaks Al Iafrate’s hardest shot record!

When you think of some of the hardest shooters in NHL history you probably think of legendary defensemen like Al MacInnis, Al Iafrate or Zdeno Chara… but a plucky young blue liner from the Buffalo Sabres, Rasmus Ristolainen, is staking his claim amongst the all-time greats.

At the Sabres’ annual skills competition yesterday Ristolainen fired a 107.5 mph ROCKET that was just shy of Chara’s 108.8 mph record set back at the 2012 NHL All-Star Game.

Check it out:

Chara’s blast bested the previous record of 105.2 mph set by Iafrate in 1993. But, keep in mind that Iafrate was using a wooden stick, as today’s composite stick technology was not yet in widespread use. Had Iafrate had the luxury of using one of Chara or Ristolainen’s high-end composite sticks… man… he could have blown the puck right through the end boards. Just look at this blast: