Popularized by Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion, who claims to have invented it in the 1950s, and later by Bobby Hull in the 1960s and 1970s, the slap shot is one of the most exciting moments in a hockey game.
It all starts with a windup, bringing the stick to at least waist height before reversing the motion to send a 3-x-1-inch piece of vulcanized rubber towards the net. It ends with the puck hitting something — or someone — at over 100 miles per hour. Or, if you are Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara, 108.8 miles per hour, the fastest on record, set during the 2012 all-star NHL Skills Competition.