"When defenseman Shea Weber was a young hockey player, he would arrive at practice early in the day to practice his shot.

With team drills starting at 7 a.m., Weber started firing pucks in the empty rink at 6:30 a.m. until his teammates arrived. The fruits of this labor have yielded accolades, folklore, and 90 NHL goals.

"I loved shooting. It was something I always loved doing," Weber said. "I kept practicing and trying to make myself better every year."

Despite his dogged practice habits, today's game at Boston will provide a rarity for Weber. He won't have the hardest shot on the ice. Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara has vanquished Weber three times in the NHL's hardest-shot competition during All-Star weekend, with Weber finishing runner-up. But their shots have enabled both players and teams to add another dimension to their offenses and boost their proficiencies.

"It's like a home-run hitter, a guy who can hit the ball a ton," Coach Barry Trotz said. "When he does get a hold of it, it has a chance to go out all the time."

Since the 2009 All-Star Game in Montreal, Weber and Chara have turned the hardest-shot competition into their own personal expos. Every year, Weber will pick up a few ticks on his slap shot, and the 6-foot-9 Chara will simply blast the puck harder."