The fastest skater on the Ottawa Senators for the last two years, Greening met his match on Saturday when New York Ranger left wing Carl Hagelin edged him in the final of the fastest-skater competition, 13.218 seconds to 13.303 seconds.

Greening’s consolation was that he won the preliminary round with what, on review, turned out to be the fastest time of the night.
At first it looked as if Greening had lost, and Hagelin was in fact announced as the winner.

But on review it was found that the scores had been incorrectly announced. Greening owned the fastest time, 12.963 to 12.993 seconds, because his stick had got over the line first.

Hagelin was physically over the line before Greening. That was easy to see.

He got off to a better start and Greening fell back when he swung wide on one of the turns. But by the blade of a stick he was able to squeeze out a win.

It salvaged a bit of pride for Greening, who got edged in the final by Hagelin. But it didn’t change the results. Team Alfredsson won that particular event 4-2.

“I think I just kind of reached out,” said Greening.

“It’s a good thing I’ve got a long reach.

“I thought I’d lost. When they asked me to go again (in the final), I was surprised. I thought for sure someone had a faster time.

“I had no idea. But (Hagelin’s) fast. After playing against him a couple of times, I could tell how fluid a skater he really is.”
After the competition, Hagelin was asked if, as a visitor to Ottawa, he should have deferred to the host. He agreed, sort of.

“It’s true, but I have to do everything to help my team,” he said.

Other than the match between Greening and Hagelin, the marque match was one between Senator defenceman Erik Karlsson and Chicago Blackhawk Marian Hossa.

Karlsson, only 21, should have had a big edge on Hossa, 33, but it was close. Karlsson pulled away after the final turn to win 13.021 to 13.343.

Hossa joked about the age difference – “Is that all?” he said – but figured the race was lost in the corners.

“I think I had a good thing going when I was skating straight. But it was such a tight turn, he just got me on the last corner.”

Karlsson was well aware of the age difference but he wasn’t about to joke about it. Going up against Hossa was scary.”In the game, he’s one of the fastest out there, and that’s what it’s all about,” said Karlsson.

“It’s fun to skate like that and see how you really do, but with the puck and in a game, he’s probably one of the fastest skaters in the league.

“If I have a puck, it’s probably a different story.

“He’s an awesome player. He’s someone who was a big part of me starting to play hockey, watch hockey, and to be able to race against him was pretty good.”

In his second event, Greening would get eliminated in the first round of the shootout when he was stopped by the Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist.

But the Ottawa rookie said it was worth missing a vacation trip to New Orleans for a chance to mingle with the game’s best players.

“It was incredible, to be around the most talented players in the NHL,” he said.

“And to experience that hardest shot by Chara, that was pretty cool, too.

“This in itself is like vacation, being around all these guys is pretty, pretty incredible. New Orleans can always wait.”