Best Stickhandlers Ever

[Canadiens1958]

Russophobia?

No - in fact we are talking two different games. NHL sized rink and Olympic or International.

Even amongst the Russians on this board there is no consensus about a Russian top 5 of stickhandlers.

Also you have to differentiate between stickhandling, puck control and moving the puck forward. Kovalev was weak at moving the puck forward in the NHL. Often he would control the puck, stick handle, put on a show while facing the crowd, looking away from the net. Little possibility of a scoring chance. On a PP he was effectively killing the man advantage his team had.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Stickhandling

The fact that so many older players- Morenz, Nighbor, Apps, Bentley, etc - were very much singled out for their fine motor skills in accounts of their play suggests otherwise. Without getting particularly granular about different strategies, a better way to describe the difference between the two cultures is East-West vs North-South. The former of which emphasizes passing more. It's not as if stick handling isn't important to both types of games.

Stickhandling was the norm before the introduction of the center Red Line for the 1943-44 NHL season.

Some of the leading stickhandlers, active and retired and some of the coaches were against the Red Line because the lead pass would preclude stickhandling.

Most vocal was Frank Boucher.

 

[Johnny Engine]

Stickhandling was the norm before the introduction of the center Red Line for the 1943-44 NHL season.

Some of the leading stickhandlers, active and retired and some of the coaches were against the Red Line because the lead pass would preclude stickhandling.

Most vocal was Frank Boucher.

That's an excellent point and a good reason why no original six era players jump to mind quite as readily as Nighbor and other early players.
But yeah, not something that the Russians invented out of thin air, even if they were very good at it.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Red Line

That's an excellent point and a good reason why no original six era players jump to mind quite as readily as Nighbor and other early players.
But yeah, not something that the Russians invented out of thin air, even if they were very good at it.

The center Red Line, NHL version was adopted by the IIHF for the fall of 1969. Soviets effectively used the positive elements of both.

 

[VMBM]

Even amongst the Russians on this board there is no consensus about a Russian top 5 of stickhandlers.

There's hardly any consensus on any top 5 list here ever. Not very surprising...

 

[SealsFan]

Watching the 3 Stastny brothers in action on a line together against the Rangers after the Nords joined the NHL was one of my memorable hockey moments. They owned that puck.

 

[tmmr]

Patrick Kane is unbelievable. Maybe the best stickhandler I've ever seen in over 55 years of watching. Stan Mikita was a great stickhandler. Didn't have a lot of speed but he could go around a guy based on stickhandling alone. Henri Richard and Lafleur were great too. And of course Gretzky and Lemieux.

 

[crobro]

Thomas Gradin
Pat LaFontaine
Kent Nilsson
Denis Savard

 

[Cursed Lemon]

The thing I always give to Datsyuk is that he is the best stickhandler in history from a stand-still position. In a game where speed is 50% of the deke, Pavel Datsyuk could make you look like a moron without even moving his feet.

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

Also you have to differentiate between stickhandling, puck control and moving the puck forward. Kovalev was weak at moving the puck forward in the NHL. Often he would control the puck, stick handle, put on a show while facing the crowd, looking away from the net. Little possibility of a scoring chance. On a PP he was effectively killing the man advantage his team had.

But still... if you set up a bunch of drills designed to "test" everyone's stickhandling in a systematic manner, I have no doubt that Kovalev would be hard to top. Tempering that by observed decision-making in real game situations is fair enough, of course, but in terms of the raw skills/capabilities he's way, way up there.

 

[BenchBrawl]

No - in fact we are talking two different games. NHL sized rink and Olympic or International.

Even amongst the Russians on this board there is no consensus about a Russian top 5 of stickhandlers.

Also you have to differentiate between stickhandling, puck control and moving the puck forward. Kovalev was weak at moving the puck forward in the NHL. Often he would control the puck, stick handle, put on a show while facing the crowd, looking away from the net. Little possibility of a scoring chance. On a PP he was effectively killing the man advantage his team had.

This is puzzling. Kovalev was great on the PP. In 2008 I think he led the league in PP points.

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

This is puzzling.Kovalev was great on the PP.In 2008 I think he led the league in PP points.

And on top of that, he was 7th overall in PP points for the entire 4 year stretch of '99/00 to '02/03. Actually, I just double-checked, and he's 7th overall in PP points for the entire decade that spans his time in Pittsburgh to the end of his days in Montreal.

Far, far more effective than C1958 implies/suggests.

 

[BenchBrawl]

And on top of that, he was 7th overall in PP points for the entire 4 year stretch of '99/00 to '02/03. Actually, I just double-checked, and he's 7th overall in PP points for the entire decade that spans his time in Pittsburgh to the end of his days in Montreal.

Far, far more effective than C1958 implies/suggests.

In 2008, Montreal finished 1st in PP%, so it's not like the boosting of his personal statistics ruined the team PP.

The Markov-Kovalev diagonal pass-onetimer was great that season.Pittsburgh didn't do so good in PP% during his time there, wildly fluctuating in league ranking.In 2008 at least, Kovalev was a monster on the PP and a constant threat from the right board.

 

[Albatros]

Kovalev was weak at moving the puck forward in the NHL. Often he would control the puck, stick handle, put on a show while facing the crowd, looking away from the net. Little possibility of a scoring chance. On a PP he was effectively killing the man advantage his team had.

Yet scored 133 power play goals, more than any other player of his draft year.

 

[The Kingslayer]

From when I started watching to present day in no order.

1. Jagr
2. Datsyuk
3. Kovalev
4. Peter Forsberg
5. Viktor Kozlov

 

[GlitchMarner]

He's not one of the best stickhandlers ever or anything, but Jason Blake was quite adept at making an end-to-end rush and then firing a limp wrister right at a goaltender.

If that guy had a shot, he could have been a consistent 30+ goal scorer.

 

[Johnny Engine]

He's not one of the best stickhandlers ever or anything, but Jason Blake was quite adept at making an end-to-end rush and then firing a limp wrister right at a goaltender.

If that guy had a shot, he could have been a consistent 30+ goal scorer.

Perhaps his shot played a role, but his sense of how he could use his linemates and get into better scoring positions was bad for an NHL hockey player, and just brutal for a career top-9 forward.

 

[adsfan]

In no particular order:

Datsyuk
Gretzky
Orr
Makarov
Beliveau
Lemieux
Bure
Richard
Jagr
Peter Forsberg
Adrien Plavsic

 

[authentic]

Datsyuk
Kovalev
Kane
McDavid
Jagr
Bure
Lemieux
Forsberg
Malkin
Fedorov
Crosby
Karlsson
Gaudreau
Klasen
Semin
Kovalchuk

 

[johan f]

I must also throw in a vote for Kent Nilsson. Those hands!

 

[whcanuck]

Oh man there a lot. You have the guys who just make the opponent look silly with their dizzying moves, Datsyuk and Kovalev come to mind. Bure, Mogilny and Fedorov were great with the head fakes and lateral movement, one quick move and a side step and they were gone. Then you've got your big bodies like Lemieux and Jagr, the nimble hands of both combined with the huge reach because of their height...defending them must have been a complete nightmare. Then you have guys like Gretzky, Sakic and Yzerman, they were experts at keeping the puck away from their opponent and making plays with it on the move.

 

[El Cohiba]

No particular order
Kane
Datsyuk
Wolski
Kovalev
Hemsky
Lemieux
Jagr
Vanek
Wellwood
Schremp if he counts lol
Perron
Radulov
Ribeiro

 

[brachyrynchos]

No particular order
Kane
Datsyuk
Wolski
Kovalev
Hemsky
Lemieux
Jagr
Vanek
Wellwood
Schremp if he counts lol
Perron
Radulov
Ribeiro

Good list. Schremp is the first guy I thought of. Incredible with the puck, too bad the rest of his game wasn't as good, much like Linus Omark.

 

[El Cohiba]

Good list. Schremp is the first guy I thought of. Incredible with the puck, too bad the rest of his game wasn't as good, much like Linus Omark.

Thanks bud. Omark is good inclusion as well! Just like Schremp; can make the puck dance, but useless doing everything else. I'd add Kirill Kabanov and Tomas Jurco to this list too

Todd Bertuzzi is someone I left out. He was a surprisingly good stick handler for a guy his size

 

[frisco]

I think Bentley probably got as much props for his stickhandling alone than any player ever. Patrick Kane is probably the best I've seen personally. Perreault and Jagr could stickhandle at top speed which is incredible and why they were so good one on one.

My Best-Carey