Tyler Toffoli created in Jeff Skinner’s image

Each time the LA Kings face the Carolina Hurricanes, it’s an opportunity to judge whether Jeff Skinner or Tyler Toffoli gets better scoring chances.

No one really compares Toffoli to Skinner much. There’s no real reason to at this point in their careers, because Skinner’s been a phenom. Last week, Skinner reached 100 career goals off a neat little feed from Alex Semin.

 
It took Skinner only 269 games to hit this milestone, largely because he’s already had two 30-goal seasons, including his Calder Trophy-winning rookie year. Right now Toffoli’s on pace to score 65 goals in the same amount of games. Time on ice factors into this somewhat, since Skinner’s also averaging four more minutes of on-ice action per night in his career.

Toffoli may not match Skinner’s pace, but their shots are a little more connected than it seems. As kids, the two played for the Toronto Junior Canadiens’ Triple-A atom team at the same time. Ducks forward Devante Smith-Pelly also played for the same GTHL team.

Toffoli in 2002.

While playing for the Junior Canadiens, Skinner became part of the reason Toffoli felt challenged to up his game back then.

Toffoli’s scoring prowess is all the more amazing when you consider that, as a 10-year-old, he was miffed and envious when teammates Skinner and Zack Shapiro showed up at practice one day knowing how to take slapshots. It was a skill still foreign to Toffoli. Not for long, though.

“We used to give private lessons from time to time, and Tyler hadn’t been out to one in a while,” says his one-time instructor Tyler Cragg, who runs the Canadian Ice Academy and the Triple-A Junior Canadiens program from which Toffoli emerged.

“His dad called me saying two of Tyler’s teammates had just learned how to take a slapshot and now Tyler was begging to get the lessons going again so he could have a slapshot, too. He also wanted a better one than his teammates.”

So, recalls Cragg, they were on the ice 48 hours later with a few big buckets of pucks.

“Tyler was always such a quick learner and within an hour, the very determined Tyler was taking slapshots,” he says. “Within two sessions he was doing one-timers and even adjusting his body to bad passes.”

In his next game, Toffoli scored on a slapshot and at his next lesson provided his instructor with the “full, long version, play-by-play of the goal.”

They both went on to be highly praised in the OHL. A year after Skinner had a 50-goal season, Toffoli earned one of his own with the Ottawa 67s.

This is what that Toffoli slap shot looks like these days.

 
It’s confusing goaltenders like Jonas Hiller when used for one-timers from the blue line, and then creating nice rebound chances in the Stanley Cup Final.

 
Tonight provides another look at how these two wingers stack against one another. Right now, Toffoli leads the Kings in scoring with 8 goals and 18 points in 19 games played. Skinner had early injury issues, but now has 7 points in 14 games.

The last time these two teams played a couple weeks ago, neither sniper picked up a point. Hopefully at least one of them sees more action tonight.

…Obviously the one I mean is beloved blushy Mr. Magoo face Tyler Toffoli and his magic.