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WHL: Tim Bozon’s shootout move goes over everyone’s head, literally (video)

Neate Sager

KELOWNA, B.C. — It turns out Tim Bozon is as fluent at defying gravity with a hockey puck as he is in any of four languages.

The breakaway challenge at the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game on Tuesday night ended up being a goaltenders' duel. Unlike their NHL counterparts, this wasn't played as straight entertainment. As the victor, Kitchener Rangers centre Radek Faksa, explained, "The coach was telling us to score goals, the scouts don't really want to see fancy stuff, then the judges were telling us they were only going on fancy stuff. It was a bit of mixed emotions." Bozon, though, remembered (a) it's only a game (b) the people who paid good money to see an exhibition want some flair and (c) the scouts have an entire regular season plus playoffs to build a profile on him by draft day. So Bozon aimed high and the result was the highlight of the shootout, even though he did not score.

As Adam Kimelman explained, Bozon was paying homage to another Swiss-trained star, current New York Islanders rookie Nino Niederreiter. Niedereiter, then with the Portland Winterhawks, scored one-handed during the skills competition of the 2010 Top Prospects.

Scooping the puck up on the blade of his stick, Bozon kept the puck in place as he held his stick high over his head while he skated in on net. He finished with a spin-o-rama, but when he tried to score lacrosse-style, the puck landed in the crease and bounced wide of the net.

"Everyone remembers his one-hand goal, so I tried to do a different one with one hand," Bozon told NHL.com. "I didn't score — almost scored — but I tried the creativity he (Niederreiter) had two years ago." (NHL.com)

Even though his father, Philippe Bozon, is a former NHLer, Tim Bozon was perhaps under the radar somewhat as a newcomer to North American junior hockey this season. However, he's shown himself to be the latest in a line of skilled Swiss who have come to the Canadian Hockey League. With 18 points in a dozen January games, he's now averaging more than a point per contest for the Kamloops Blazers, who are first overall in the WHL. He's scored plenty of goals that require skills and smarts, so he's no novelty act.

Bozon is also a pretty engaging interview. For anyone wondering, the native of Lugano, Switzerland, speaks English, French, German and Italian. His favourite TV show? Desperate Housewives. Any guy who will admit that is secure enough in who he is to try almost anything if it entertains 6,000 fans.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet (top video: NHL.com).