OTTAWA, ON - Sabres captain Jason Pominville and rookie forward Luke Adam both preformed well during the NHL All-Star skills competition.
Pominville was a member of team Alfredsson, which won the event 21-12 over team Chara. He participated in two events on the night.
First Pominville was the target shooter for the skills challenge relay. As the anchor leg of the team event, Pominville had to shoot pucks into four targets hung inside the goal. His team won the event, finishing with the fastest time of 2:08.
Pominville also participated in the elimination shootout, where he finished in second place overall. The Sabres forward scored two shootout goals, beating Detroit's Jimmy Howard and Boston's Tim Thomas. However, Thomas stopped Pominville on his third attempt, giving the event title to Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos.
Luke Adam was one of 12 rookies chosen to participate in the skills challenge. He was a member of team Chara and competed in the hardest shot competition. Adam told 2 on your side before the event that he didn't want to "embarrass" himself, and just hoped to break 90 miles per hour.
He would do much better than that, shooting a puck 98.3 mph to win his heat against Carolina's Justin Faulk.
Boston's Zdeno Chara would dominate the event, breaking his own record with a 108.8 mph shot.
Adam will not skate in the All-Star game tomorrow but is enjoying his experience in Ottawa. "It's great to be in the same category and in the same environment as all these superstars that are here," said Adam.
Adam hopes that the week off will help the Sabres turn their season around when they get back to work. "You know just rejuvenate the batteries. There are still 30 games left so it's not over. We put ourselves in a hole, but we can dig ourselves out of it."
Pominville will play in the All-Star game on Sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.
WGRZ