On the eve of the 50th NHL All-Star Game, the league assembled the largest gathering of hockey greats at Air Canada Centre and played two Heroes of Hockey games before the skills showcase. But two ageless veterans showed why they deserve to stand shoulder to shoulder with hockey legends, just as they did after the game in a memorable shot with more than 100 NHL alumni and members of the current North American and World All-Star teams.

	Al MacInnis doesn't know how much longer he can keep unloading the hardest shot.

MacInnis won his sixth hardest-shot contest and his North American All-Star teammate Bourque tied the World team's Viktor Kozlov in the accuracy shooting competition.

Most impressive and memorable was that MacInnis, 36, just returned Thursday from a collapsed lung suffered Jan. 21 in Chicago. MacInnis' winning rocket was clocked at 100.1 mph, only a tenth faster than North American teammate and Flyers sniper John LeClair.

"If I'd had any risk at all, I wouldn't have played here or Vancouver. But once they give you the green light, and they say you've got no more risks than the next guy, you might as well participate," the Blues veteran said after winning the contest for the fourth year in a row.

Obviously, the 16-year veteran is still widely considered to have the hardest slap shot in hockey, and MacInnis said it's a matter of pride to keep his reputation and title as he gets older. The All-Star weekend is meant to be fun for players and fans, but MacInnis puts all of his torque into his trademark slapper.

And the fans were thankful that MacInnis, who missed five games prior to Thursday, didn't use his injury to back out. Camera flashes sparkled from the seats in the end where he was shooting, and the sold-out crowd gave MacInnis one of the loudest ovations of the night when the clock flashed the shot's speed.

Surprisingly, MacInnis' winning shot was just the second time he's topped 100 mph in the All-Star hardest shot competition -- the other being his 100.4 mph shot in 1998.

"It's kind of that benchmark, you know," MacInnis said of surpassing 100. "The kids ask you 'What's the hardest you've ever shot?' Before I reached a hundred a couple of years ago, I always had to say 98.7 or 99-whatever, but at least I can say a hundred."

The other old master, Boston captain Bourque, has been a winner or co-winner of the accuracy contest in seven of the 10 years it's been featured. And he was as impressed with his fellow blue-line veteran.

"We're kind of defending previous winners, so they save us for the end and it worked out all right for both of us," Bourque, 39, said of the drama of being the last contestant.

Knowing his first one might stand up as the winner, MacInnis put everything into his second shot. But it echoed off the backboards wide. MacInnis laughed it off later, saying he broke his stick on the shot and that he wished he had another crack at it.

Earlier in the day he discussed his strategy and how he didn't want to hit a rut, break his stick, or "do anything foolish."

MacInnis is still short of Al Iafrate's All-Star skills record of 105.2 mph shot in 1993, and it was suggested Iafrate wants to come out of retirement to regain his past glory.

"There's an indication of about 6-foot-4, 250 pounds that can probably hammer it harder than he did when he played," MacInnis said. "(Iafrate's) a big man."