Faster all-time skater

[jiggs 10]

Bure was the fastest WITH THE PUCK I've ever seen. Rusty Courtnall was a rocket. Bobby Orr was faster than anyone of his era except Cournyer. Doug Smail of the Jets was a real jet. Paul Coffey could really move. Guy Lafleur had the gas.

Of today's players, only Fedorov and Gaborik are close to these others guys.

 

[pappyline]

I don't think anybody has ever been timed as fast as Bobby Hull, It is in the Guiness book of records. I know Bobby Sheehan made an attempt to beat Hull's record but failed.

 

[RorschachWJK]

I think Selänne deserves a mention here. Kapanen is also very fast, though maybe not quite the fastest all time.

 

[Leaf Lander]

Guy Lafeur
Bobby Orr
Russ Courtnall- feels silly adding his name with those two greats but oh well

 

[Heat McManus]

Fastest overall:
Gartner
Fedorov


Fastest WITH THE PUCK:
Kovalchuk
Ovechkin
Bure

 

[espo*]

I've heard that some scouts say no-one in the world skates faster then this Russian prospect named Enver Lisin right now.

 

[raleh]

Howie Morenz

 

[jamiebez]

Guy Lafeur
Bobby Orr
Russ Courtnall- feels silly adding his name with those two greats but oh well

Actually, Russ has one thing on these two guys: he's scored three career OT playoff goals - two of which were series winners.

Take that, Bobby Orr!

 

[V-2 Schneider]

Murray Wilson had a stride like Coffey, and was a graceful.He played LW on a line with Lemaire and Cournoyer, and that is still the fastest line I've ever seen play.

 

[chooch*]

Murray Wilson had a stride like Coffey, and was a graceful.He played LW on a line with Lemaire and Cournoyer, and that is still the fastest line I've ever seen play.

Any thoughts why Wilson never became a big star or even a star like his bro.

 

[Lowetide]

Any thoughts why Wilson never became a big star or even a star like his bro.

iirc the Habs had a lot of LW's pushing for playing time (Shutt, Lambert, Frank Mahovlich would have been a teammate for a time, Bob Gainey, who am I missing?) and he had spinal fusion surgery somewhere in there too.

He was impressive flying down the wing, but looking back at the stats even in junior he was probably a bit less of a player than our eyes told us.

 

[barfy2000]

what about paul kariya? where would he stack up against these guys you are listing? in terms of speed/acceleration/quickness...he was pretty quick...

 

[td_ice]

Who was faster in your opinion. Now I mean this literally. We all know guys are faster nowadays in general but who was straight up the fastest skater ever.

Yvan Cournoyer - He was definetly the fastest of his generation. Faster than Orr for sure. Look at him in Game 2 of the '72 Summit Series. He takes a pass from Park and blows, by and I mean blows by the Russian defense. He did get the "Roadrunner" for nothing.

Sergei Fedorov - He's always been good all arond but his speed separates him from the rest. Its often forgotten about how fast he can motor.

Pavel Bure - His speed is no secret. There's a goal much like Cournoyer's that is pure speed. It is in Rock Em SOck Em #6, when Bure is in his prime. He just picks up the puck in the Vancouver end and faster than you can say "jiminy cricket" he's beating Lidstrom on the outside and roofing it top corner.

Paul Coffey - Personally Coffey is my pick of guys who could skate faster than anyone else. Put him against Bure in a lap skate and he beats him. He skated so fluidly that you forget he was going so fast until you realized that the other guys on the ice were going so slow. They werent going so slow Coffey was just going too fast! He glidd better than some guys skated really hard. And he skated fast backwards even, so effortlessly. No one could skate as fast as him IMO.

I totally agree with your Coffey assessment.

Coffey had ridiculous speed. I do not think anyone could beat him if you take Coffey in his prime. You nailed it when mentioning how fluid he was, and how he glided at such a high rate of speed. All while calmly carrying the puck. His arms were not flying everywhere, and his legs were not pumping like crazy.

To see the goalie or a teammate set up the puck for him behind the net on a breakout, and have Coffey take a few strides and collect the puck and he was gone, was such a sight. PLAYERS DID LOOK LIKE THEY GOING IN SLOW MOTION because of Paul's amazing speed and control at that speed.

I have seen many fast skaters, but none is close to Coffey imo.

 

[tape-2-tape]

I would have to say that all mentioned thus far, have incredible speed. I think Orr's speed was very underrated because we were often so mesmerized by everything else he was doing while still 'leavin' them in the dust'. Orr accelerated with the explosiveness of Bure and could go from 'glide' to 'full flight' like no other. I've seen footage of him catching guys who were in full stride at the Bruins blue line while he was just coming up to the center ice/red line. He'd just wheel into them taking the puck right off of their sticks as they approached the top of the circle.. AMAZING!! Bure is also one that pops into my head instantly! He also had INSANE SPEED!

 

[John Flyers Fan]

For pure speed and acceleration, I'd have to go with Bure.

For all-around skating I'd have 4 guys head and shoulders above the rest: Paul Coffey, Scott Neidermayer, Sergei Fedorov and Slava Fetisov.