2007-10-23 00:03:13 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Sports ➔ Hockey
I have seen many of the greats. One that people forget about was Pat Lafontaine.
2007-10-23 00:23:50 · update #1
It's a very tough question. Paul Coffey is widely regarded as the best skater the NHL has ever seen. Paul was a faster skater with a better turning radius than Bobby had. Bobby, on the other hand, was one of the rare players who could take a slapshot while skating forward (as opposed to gliding) which Paul couldn't do. Bobby was also a better skater in traffic than Paul was.
The only forwards I can think of who were truly magnificent skaters were Gilbert Perreault, Denis Savard, Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux, and Sergei Fedorov (Mike Gartner was fast - but fast doesn't equate to graceful and Gartner was anything but).
It's funny that someone mentioned Gretzky because most people (including myself) consider that to be his one glaring weakness, and it carried throughout his career. Mike Bossy was not a great skater either, but Al Arbour sent his entire team to Laura Stamm summer after summer in the hopes that they would get better.
Bob
Great point about Bure. I was part of a hockey school in New Westminster in the mid-90s (one of the years Bure scored 60) and one of the instructors was Cap Raeder (an NHL assistant coach at the time). During one of the drills, Raeder made a remark about skating and how 'great skaters never overskate the puck on zone breakouts like Pave Bure does' and all the kids just stared at Raeder like he had killed their hero................but it was so true. It was a joke sometimes to see Bure take off from his own zone and have to turn around and go back to get the puck because he hadn't been able to meld his speed and stickhandling skills together.
Don't get me wrong, I love Pavel, one of the great talents the hockey world has seen, but his skating could be atrocious at times!
2007-10-23 02:53:22 · answer #1 · answered by Like I'm Telling You Who I A 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Paul Coffey Skating
2016-12-12 14:31:54 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If Boston traded a perfectly healthly Orr, then they just proved themselves as idiots. But seriously, if Orr played for a couple more years, Paul Coffey and Ray Bourque wouldn't even be mentioned for most points as defensemen. I think if Orr played for longer, the NHL wouldn't have been all clutch and grab. It would have be much more open and defensemen would be encouraged to carry the puck more, like Orr.
2016-03-13 10:23:28 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know if you are old enough to have seen Orr in person. I have, and I can tell you this....even though the overall speed in the game was slower then, and overall skating ability in the league was nowhere near what it is today, if Bobby Orr were in the NHL today, he would still be the best skater. Being here in Pittsburgh, I had the pleasure of Coffey frequently, and it was so much fun watching him skate.
I'll throw out three names for you from the 70's-80's who compare very favorably with Coffey as skaters...Guy Lafleur, Gilbert Perreault and Marcel Dionne. With the teams we had back then, I got more than ample opportunity to see all three of them torch the Pens.
Oh, and did I forget to mention a couple guys named Gretzky and Lemieux (not Claude)?
2007-10-23 00:19:01 · answer #4 · answered by Yinzer Power 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
I grew up watching Bobby Orr play in the Gahhhden, and he wowed me almost every time. He sure had the whole package, I don't think there has/will be another like him.
Having said that, I will still try to make a comparison...
I like the way Daley skates for the Stars. He is very quick for a defenseman. He has solid puck handling ability, and can let go of a pretty wicked shot on the move. He has the toughness in front of the net, and isn't afraid to go down to block a shot. The one thing he lacks is overall size, but he makes up for it a bit with grit....
Steve.
2007-10-23 06:31:49 · answer #5 · answered by hockeynut 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
What LITY said. Also, speed does not always transform into skating ability and you have to be able to control the puck and shoot with that speed- and turn on a dime. He makes a good point about Gartner. Sanderson is just fast, Todd Marchant is just fast, Pavel Bure was fast, and Afinogenov is fast- somes hands can't keep pace with their feet. Orr could do it all.
2007-10-23 05:49:49 · answer #6 · answered by Bob Loblaw 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Scott Neidemeyer is equall or better than Coffey, but neither could skate with Orr, Lafluer, or Harvey.
2007-10-23 11:23:08 · answer #7 · answered by Coach Scott 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was always impressed by Mark Howe.
2007-10-23 02:55:45 · answer #8 · answered by Awesome Bill 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Beleive it or not, Geoff Sanderson is one hell of a skater.
2007-10-23 02:02:32 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋