best hands ever

[pappyline]

Gotta be Max Bentley, the dipsy doodle dandy. Also Lemieux & Perreault. Gordie Howe is also up there. He was ambidextous and could switch from right to left. Another advantage of the staight blade.

 

[jiggs 10]

Denis Savard had the greatest hands I've ever seen. Could do ANYTHING with the puck!

Mario is up there, too.
Pierre Larouche was a good answer.
Kent Nilsson. He wasn't called "Magic" for nothing!
From everything I've read on the old days, Max Bentley of the Hawks was the best of his era.

Kovalev? I must not see him play enough. He seems to me to be a lesser Pierre Turgeon, but I only see him about once a season until the playoffs, so....

 

[Rather Gingerly 1*]

Kent Nilsson

 

[Habsfan 32]

Alex Kovalev and Datsyuk.

 

[Malefic74]

Denis Savard had the greatest hands I've ever seen. Could do ANYTHING with the puck!

Mario is up there, too.
Pierre Larouche was a good answer.
Kent Nilsson. He wasn't called "Magic" for nothing!
From everything I've read on the old days, Max Bentley of the Hawks was the best of his era.

Kovalev? I must not see him play enough. He seems to me to be a lesser Pierre Turgeon, but I only see him about once a season until the playoffs, so....

Seeing Nilsson here reminds me of another seldom mentioned player with great hands... Petr Klima.

And Nilsson's nickname didn't come from his stickhandling, it came from the fact that he disappeared when the playoffs rolled around.

 

[Cake or Death]

The players I would actually say had the best hands have already been mentioned, so I will toss in an oddball name perhaps, but I remember Bernie Nicholls having great hands. Overall, though, I'd say Mario.

 

[Kimi]

Alex Kovalev and Datsyuk.

Same here.

 

[Sampe]

In terms of puckhandling, Alexei Kovalev is damn near superhuman and the best I have ever seen. Jagr, Lemieux, Datsyuk and really just about all the top Russians are also world class in this department. Palffy has my vote for the Slovaks, Forsberg for the Swedes and Doug Weight for the Americans. Finns suck at puckhandling but nevertheless Saku Koivu is the best of our bunch IMO.

Gilbert Perreault and Valeri Kharlamov are other top candidates I've seen who were way ahead of their time, but due to different equipment and lack of quality slow motion replays it's quite difficult to compare them to today's players.

I'm not familiar enough with the 80's players (let alone the ones from the pre-70s era) to make any judgements on them.

 

[Transported Upstater]

Puckhandling-wise, I'm not sure, but as for best pure goal-scoring hands, Mike Bossy gets a vote from me.

Best release during my lifetime IMO.

 

[God Bless Canada]

In terms of another hands skill - deflections (yes, it does count) - the two that come to mind are Robitaille (as mentioned early, he survived in the league for so long because he has the magic hands) and Joe Nieuwendyk. An absolute constant threat in front of the net on the power play. Those hands (and his uncanny knack for raising his play at the right time) will be his ticket into the HHOF. (Also used those quick hands to be one of the top faceoff men in the league).

Whoever mentioned Klima gets a big thumbs up. For those who think hockey is all about skill, I give you evidence as to why it's not. If it was all about skill, Klima's in the HHOF. He had elite everything in terms of offensive talent, but he had wavering consistency, intensity and determination - the traits that the all-time greats possessed. That's why he bounced around, that's why he was in the minors at age 31, and that's why his career never matched his talent.

 

[Transported Upstater]

In terms of another hands skill - deflections (yes, it does count) - the two that come to mind are Robitaille (as mentioned early, he survived in the league for so long because he has the magic hands) and Joe Nieuwendyk. An absolute constant threat in front of the net on the power play. Those hands (and his uncanny knack for raising his play at the right time) will be his ticket into the HHOF. (Also used those quick hands to be one of the top faceoff men in the league).

Whoever mentioned Klima gets a big thumbs up. For those who think hockey is all about skill, I give you evidence as to why it's not. If it was all about skill, Klima's in the HHOF. He had elite everything in terms of offensive talent, but he had wavering consistency, intensity and determination - the traits that the all-time greats possessed. That's why he bounced around, that's why he was in the minors at age 31, and that's why his career never matched his talent.

+1 to Robitaille. He certainly wasn't in the league for his skating!

 

[barfy2000]

Mellanby is pretty good with the tips as well.

 

[Cake or Death]

Kovalev? I must not see him play enough. He seems to me to be a lesser Pierre Turgeon, but I only see him about once a season until the playoffs, so....

I've watched Kovalev play since day one, at least 500 games. Haven't seen much of him this year, mind you, but career-wise he has a fairly predictable game. For all the slick moves, he loses the puck more often than he beats people. And most of the time he does beat someone, the next defender in line strips the puck from him. I've seen him stripped a thousand times with too much stick work, despite the countless times he's been benched mid-game because of it hurting his team.

If aesthetics make for great hands, I guess he is outstanding. If, however, you are looking for something a bit more important than aesthetics, like actual results, his "great" hands hurt his teams as often as they help them.

Kovalev's hands in my opinion are a blessing and a curse. His hands create some amazing things on the ice, but his mind over-estimates what his hands are actually capable of. When this happens, his lack of hockey sense turns his great hands into a liability.

In essence, a pair of great hands also knows when to get rid of the puck.

 

[mcphee]

I've watched Kovalev play since day one, at least 500 games. Haven't seen much of him this year, mind you, but career-wise he has a fairly predictable game. For all the slick moves, he loses the puck more often than he beats people. And most of the time he does beat someone, the next defender in line strips the puck from him. I've seen him stripped a thousand times with too much stick work, despite the countless times he's been benched mid-game because of it hurting his team.

If aesthetics make for great hands, I guess he is outstanding. If, however, you are looking for something a bit more important than aesthetics, like actual results, his "great" hands hurt his teams as often as they help them.

Kovalev's hands in my opinion are a blessing and a curse. His hands create some amazing things on the ice, but his mind over-estimates what his hands are actually capable of. When this happens, his lack of hockey sense turns his great hands into a liability.

In essence, a pair of great hands also knows when to get rid of the puck.

Kovalev will be in the hof if they start deciding games with the quality of goals rather than the quantity. He is fun to watch though.

 

[Gilles Meloche]

Middleton

I agree Mike Bossy or maybe Rick Middleton

 

[boredmale]

i would say Wayne Gretzky, the stats don't lie, and this is coming from somebody who never really liked him. He has the most goals and assists ever so how can you deny he isn't?

 

[facts]

This is a weird list but just remember these guys
Tim Kerr - slot = net
Vitor Kozlov- shootouts or just ragging it when he wants
Steve Sullivan- he has the best open close moves in the league
Patrice Bergeron- amazing skill
Glen Anderson- smooth

 

[Puckclektr]

Best stickhandlers I have seen.
Savard, Perrault, Kent NIllson. I would add Lemeiux, but if he didn't have that reach, I don't think he would have been as good.

 

[KOVALEV10*]

I've watched Kovalev play since day one, at least 500 games. Haven't seen much of him this year, mind you, but career-wise he has a fairly predictable game. For all the slick moves, he loses the puck more often than he beats people. And most of the time he does beat someone, the next defender in line strips the puck from him. I've seen him stripped a thousand times with too much stick work, despite the countless times he's been benched mid-game because of it hurting his team.

If aesthetics make for great hands, I guess he is outstanding. If, however, you are looking for something a bit more important than aesthetics, like actual results, his "great" hands hurt his teams as often as they help them.

Kovalev's hands in my opinion are a blessing and a curse. His hands create some amazing things on the ice, but his mind over-estimates what his hands are actually capable of. When this happens, his lack of hockey sense turns his great hands into a liability.

In essence, a pair of great hands also knows when to get rid of the puck.

I dont know which Kovy you have seen but this year he rarely and I mean rarely loses the puck. Every game he puts on a show at least one shift where he pretty much dekes the whole team, comes back to the blueline, spins and then takes a shot. However he has some games where you could tell that he's just floating around, and if you happen to be watching those games he will show you what lack of desire and footspeed does to a player. He'll end up creating turnovers everytime. Not when he's on though.. not when he's on.

 

[raskolnikov]

no one has mentioned AO? obviously its early to say he is one of the best (im not saying he is) but he certainly made some great one on one moves this season
havent seen kent nilsson but as an isles fan, if his son inherited half what he had, he must have been great

 

[RedAce]

Both Lemuiex and jagr have said that Alex kovalev has the best hands they have ever seen on anyone. I think that they are pretty good judges in that regard.
so the winner is KOVALEV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Datsyuk second.

 

[Cake or Death]

I dont know which Kovy you have seen but this year he rarely and I mean rarely loses the puck. Every game he puts on a show at least one shift where he pretty much dekes the whole team, comes back to the blueline, spins and then takes a shot. However he has some games where you could tell that he's just floating around, and if you happen to be watching those games he will show you what lack of desire and footspeed does to a player. He'll end up creating turnovers everytime. Not when he's on though.. not when he's on.

As I stated, I have not seen much of him this year at all. But as a Ranger fan who watches basically every Ranger game, and with Pitt in my division, I saw a lot of his career from day one. Again, easily 500 games. Kovalev ... great hands, bad brain. The two often collide.

My opinion on Alexei, he should be one of the most dominant players in the world. I always felt he under-achieved and cannot fathom how a guy with that talent has not scored 80-100 points every year, barring injury, of course.

Sorry man, the talent is certainly there, but so are the lapses and mental mistakes that cause me to feel a detraction in his talent. To each his own, but IMO this guy plays well below his capabilty, especially from a career standpoint. Ultimately, my personal feeling is, there are guys with far lesser hands than Kovalev who get a lot more done with the puck than he does.

Datsyuk ... Zubov ... these guys, IMO, are guys that are smooth with the puck but make far fewer mistakes with it than Kovalev does. Ron Francis is a guy who has the hockey smarts that make his hands better than they are. Same of Brind'Amour who uses his hands intelligently and uses them well on faceoffs. Once again, this is my opinion, but I am looking at more than dazzling moves here, I am also looking at the big picture effect of those moves.

 

[Kimi]

Does any one have that video of Kovy at a Habs camp where be basicly owns a load of pucks on the ice?

 

[ryanghg]

Kovalev.

HM to Jagr and Datsyuk.

 

[vcx*]

started one these with the fastest skater now just curious on who has the softest hands from others opinions

Mario Lemieux.