Zdeno Chara plays with a stiffer stick than Shea Weber's "special" hardest shot stick

In the NHL Hardest shot liveblog from last night, it was revealed that Shea Weber was using a special 130-flex stick:

Weber uses the stick that's been in his hands the entire time and shoots the puck 105.3 mph on his first attempt. He blasts it 108.1 mph on his second. During an interview with Pierre McGuire of NBCSN, the fans are chanting "One more shot." Weber delivers, shooting it 107.8 mph.

It's revealed soon after that Weber uses a 130 flex stick, which one broadcaster referred to as using a crowbar to shoot because of how stiff it is. That explains Seguin's difficulty in bending it. Weber says he normally uses a 122 flex, which is still stiff compared to other defenseman.

Ryan McDonagh of the New York Rangers says after the competition that he uses an 85 flex. Upon being told Weber's was 130, McDonagh says, "I better start lifting more."

Justin Faulk of the Carolina Hurricanes says he has used a 95 flex for the past two years. Ekblad says he used a 95 flex in the competition, but typically uses an 87 flex. He couldn't imagine using Weber's stick.

"Insane," Ekblad says as he heads off for a shower, the event now over.

Which is all very nice and good, sure. But as with all things about Shea Weber, he's an okay knock-off to the real deal, Zdeno Chara. Let's go back to a PureHockey Gear Talk segment from March 2013. In it, Bruins equipment manager Keith Robinson had this to say:

Z is a 155-150 flex. He kinda switches back and forth from time to time. To compare, another big strong guy, Dennis Seidenberg. He's a 107, which is considered pretty stiff, so 150-160 is built for a big, big guy.

From the same video, Chara himself: "I like to use stiffer sticks. That way I can really use my weight and my strength and really lean into it." Zdeno Chara is one of the heaviest guys in the league at 255 pounds. Just for kicks, here's Zdeno Chara blasting one for 108.8 back in 2012: