From the inaugural Manitoba Moose skills competition at the MTS Centre last night:

California drillin’ — Go figure that two guys from California, Moose defencemen Travis Ramsey and Brian Salcido, have the hardest shots on the team.

Ramsey, who’s from Lakewood, Calif., and Salcido, who grew up in Hermosa Beach, Calif., owned the hardest-shot skills competition over their Canadian and European brethren.

Ramsey blistered slapshots of 97 and 95 m.p.h., just ahead of the 96- and 94-m.p.h. blasts Salcido unleashed.

It turns out Salcido was as surprised as anyone. “I had no idea I could shoot that hard,” he said. “That’s the first time I’ve ever been on a (radar) gun. I thought I might shoot high-80s, maybe 90s.

“And then two guys from California? We grow them right there, I guess.”

Walsky steals the show – Twenty-five-year-old Alaskan Eric Walsky showed he can skate and shoot, winning two of the four titles — most accurate shot and fastest skater — to earn bragging rights that he will surely not be allowing his teammates to forget any time soon.

So, what’s your secret? Walsky said it helps your hockey game living in a place like Alaska. “I grew up on a lake,” says Walsky. “We skated outside every day.”

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