The strongest professional ice hockey leagues in the world are, in order of preference, the National Hockey League (NHL), which features teams from the United States and Canada, and the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), which features teams mainly from Russia, but also from Belarus, China and Kazakhstan. Both leagues stage an annual ‘all-star’ game, intended to showcase the talents of their big-name participants, and an associated skills competition. So, too, does the American Hockey League (AHL), which serves as the primary development league for the NHL.
In fact, it was during the KHL skills competition, held in St. Petersburg, Russia on February 5, 2011, that Avangard Omsk defenceman Denis Kulyash, a.k.a. ‘Tsar Cannon’, registered a slapshot that was measured at 110.3 miles per hour, thereby setting a record for the fastest shot in ice hockey history. As far as the NHL is concerned, the record for the fastest shot belongs to former Boston Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chára who, during the NHL skills competition in Ottawa, Canada on January 29, 2012, ripped a bomb measured at 108.8 miles per hour.
Indeed, the 6-foot 9-inch Slovak, a.k.a. ‘Big Z’, proved something of a serial record-breaker during his long, illustrious career in the NHL. He had previously set records of 105.4 mph and 105.9 mph in 2009 and 2011, respectively.
Second place on the overall, all-time list, though, belongs to Springfield Thunderbirds forward Martin Frik, who is under contract to the St. Louis Blues. During the AHL all-star skills competition in Ontario, California on January 27, 2020, the Czech-born player blasted a slapshot measured at 109.2 mph.