Arvidsson blasts hardest shot at annual Oilers skills competition

Rogers Place in downtown Edmonton in December 2020. (CTV News Edmonton)

Smaller in stature? No matter.

All five-foot-ten-inches and 185 pounds of Viktor Arvidsson won the hardest shot portion of the Edmonton Oilers Skills Competition on Sunday.

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The Swedish winger’s 101.5-miles-per-hour shot beat six-foot-four, 215-pound Darnell Nurse’s 99.6 mph blast and six-foot-one, 190-pound Vasily Podkolzin’s 97.7 mph bomb to win top team honours.

Kasperi Kapanen took the fastest skater competition. The winger’s top speed of 40 kilometres per hour was almost one kilometre better than defenceman Brett Kulak (39.1 km/h).

Forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was the Oilers' most-accurate shooter, beating fellow forward Connor Brown in the final of the head-to-head Bullseye Battle by going three-for-four to Brown’s three-for-five.

Other battles in the competition included team-based Dish Derby, a best-of-three accuracy passing contest), and the Shootout Showdown, which each goal scored on content creator Nick The Goalie counting as one point.

Both Stuart Skinner and Calvin Packard, who didn’t don their usual pads and gear as goaltenders, each scored in the shootout.

Players taking part in Sunday’s skills competition before a full house at Rogers Place were divided into two teams (Team White and Team Blue), with players awarded points for their squads in each category.

A new category for Oilers canines, the Ruff Ruff Relay, was won by Phoebe Stecher with a time of 7.125 seconds.

Final score: Team White 37, Team Blue 21

Next Oilers game: Tuesday at St. Louis Blues (6 p.m. MT)

Rosters

Team White

• Zach Hyman

• Adam Henrique

• Darnell Nurse

• Leon Draisaitl

• Noah Philp

• Ty Emberson

• Troy Stecher

• Jeff Skinner

• Stuart Skinner

• Vasily Podkolzin

Team Blue

• Evan Bouchard

• Brett Kulak

• Connor Brown

• Calvin Pickard

• Viktor Arvidsson

• John Klingberg

• Kasperi Kapanen

• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

Contests

Hardest shot

1. Viktor Arvidsson (101.5 mph, 98.9 mph)

2. Darnell Nurse (99.6 mph, 98.2 mph)

3. Vasily Podkolzin (97.7 mph, 97.5 mph)

4. Brett Kulak (97.5 mph, 94.4 mph)

5. Evan Bouchard (97.0 mph, 96.3 mph)

6. Troy Stecher (94.5 mph, 92.4 mph)

7. John Klingberg (92.2 mph, 90.5 mph)

8. Adam Henrique (91.4 mph, 90.1 mph)

9. Blake Fiddler - Oil Kings (82.4 mph)

Fastest skater

1. Kasperi Kapanen (40.0 km/h)

2. Brett Kulak (39.1 km/h)

3. Ty Emberson (38.6 km/h)

4. Vasily Podkolzin (38.2 km/h)

5. Noah Philp (37.6 km/h)

6. Evan Bouchard (36.8 km/h)

Bullseye Battle

Final

• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (3-for-4) defeats Connor Brown (3-for-5)

Semifinal

• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (4-for-8) defeats John Klingberg (3-for-7)

• Connor Brown (4-for-6) defeats Viktor Arvidsson (3-for-5)

Quarterfinal

• John Klingberg (4-for-4) defeats Troy Stecher (0-for-3)

• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (4-for-5) defeats Darnell Nurse (1-for-4)

• Viktor Arvidsson (3-for-3) defeats Jeff Skinner (0-for-2)

• Connor Brown (4-for-5) defeats Leon Draisaitl (3-for-5)

Shootout Showdown

Team White

• Zach Hyman: goal

• Adam Henrique: goal

• Darnell Nurse: no goal

• Leon Draisaitl: goal

• Noah Philp: goal

• Ty Emberson: no goal

• Troy Stecher: no goal

• Jeff Skinner: no goal

• Stuart Skinner: goal

• Vasily Podkolzin: goal

Team Blue

• Hunter the Lynx: no goal

• Evan Bouchard: no goal

• Brett Kulak: goal

• Connor Brown: no goal

• Calvin Pickard: goal

• Viktor Arvidsson: no goal

• John Klingberg: no goal

• Kasperi Kapanen: goal

• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins: goal

Ruff Ruff Relay

1. Phoebe Stecher - Bernese Mountain Dog (7.125 seconds)

2. Diggsy Harrison - Aussie Doodle (8.100 seconds)

3. Bruce Emberson - American Pit Bull (11.219 seconds)

4. Willow Nugent-Hopkins - Golden Retriever (12.297 seconds)

5. Sunny Henrique - Havanese Poodle Mix (DNF)