Clarifying the quality of wrist shots

Just a few moments ago, I was watching Team Canada play HC Davos in the preliminary round of the Spengler Cup tournament. During a flurry of activity, TSN's play-by-play announcer claimed that so-and-so had "a cannon of a wrist shot."

I'm not sure where and when this metaphor for wristers originated, but it's been around for some time. At different points in hockey history, the wrist shots of Kjell Dahlin, Jaromir Jagr, and Phil Kessel have been compared to cannons. In each NHL season, there are approximately 45 742 references to wristers resembling artillery. Cannons are among the most commonly compared kinds of battery.

Since such unabashed embellishments are being bandied about liberally these days, I feel that it is essential to set the record straight and disabuse players of the notion that their shot rivals that of an actual howitzer.

(Imagine the following being said by Paul Hogan of "Crocodile Dundee" fame.)

That's not a cannon of a wrist shot.

(source)

That's a cannon of a wrist shot.