"Luke Adam repeatedly made himself very clear. The Buffalo Sabres' rookie is thrilled to be part of NHL All-Star Weekend, but he doesn't want to embarrass himself competing against the best in the world. So, along those lines, he wanted to do anything in the Skills Competition tonight except the hardest-shot contest.

Just imagine, Adam said Friday, watching Boston slap shot king Zdeno Chara fire a 100-mph blast and following that up with your own 70-mph shot. No thanks.

A half-hour later, Adam got the news he dreaded. When the All-Stars gather in Scotiabank Place, the Buffalo forward will be competing against the big shooters. Teammate and fellow All-Star Jason Pominville couldn't help but laugh.

"He'll have fun with it," Pominville said at Media Day in a downtown hotel. "He'll do well, too."

Adam insists he's no threat to dethrone Chara, his team captain, but he will have fun taking the ice with the top players.

"It's pretty neat to be here," Adam said. "It's a huge honor, huge thrill to be in the same category as some of these players. I'm having a lot of fun."

The hardest-shot challenge will be Adam's only event. Pominville will be the target shooter in the skills challenge relay and skate in the elimination shootout for the team captained by Daniel Alfredsson."