First In NHL to Drop to One Knee for One-timer?

[Tom Polakis]

Pretty much every player now goes to one knee for a one-timer, but I wondered if an NHL player is recognized as the first to begin doing this, and who had the most success with it early on. Look at highlights from the great snipers of the 1980's like Bossy or Kurri, and you won't see it. I know Brett Hull was pretty good at it, but who was the pioneer?

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[Killion]

Pretty much every player now goes to one knee for a one-timer, but I wondered if an NHL player is recognized as the first to begin doing this, and who had the most success with it early on. Look at highlights from the great snipers of the 1980's like Bossy or Kurri, and you won't see it. I know Brett Hull was pretty good at it, but who was the pioneer?

Good question.... and no, I dont much like it. Dont even like the bench skate-bys's with the touching of gloves. First guy I remember going down on one knee & making a show of himself was Dave Tiger Williams, then with Toronto back in the 70's.... and he didnt stop with that. He actually road around on his stick like it was a hobby horse after scoring... Real Hot Dog Weenie move.... Since then, Ive seen the off celebration that I dont mind, mildly amusing, but in general, no, not so much. Older generations such as I, not real big on over the top outward displays of goal celebrations unless its a really important goal.... Game 7 OT Stanley Cup Winner... that sort of thing.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Goalies...

Dropping to one knee isn't about panache, at least not when I (rarely) do it...it's because the pass isn't in the place I want, and I'm trying to change my body and stick angle to get it into a more comfortable position. Also helpful to get under a puck from in close. It's all about angles and geometry...ya know...goalie/math stuff...don't ask me to explain it...

But the first guy I recall doing it regularly is Brett Hull. I'm also not exactly heading towards retirement any time soon...I'll defer on that part of it, but when you're in tight or a pass is too far out in front of you, I'll go to a knee...it isn't to show off, trust me, as someone who models his game after Patric Hornqvist, I don't have the ability to show off haha...

 

[Killion]

Goalies...

Indeed. Mis-read the title of the thread. "Saw "Drop to one knee" & immediately saw red.... pucks in the net & the Glory Boyz gotta put on a show..... But nope... OP talkin about the peculiar move of falling to one knee when "one timing a shot".... carry on... disregard my post above....

 

[Tom Polakis]

I play in a rec. league that's more senior than most, and some guys can actually make that move to shoot when the pass comes in too tight. I'm not one of them.

So for now, it's Brett Hull until somebody says otherwise.

 

[ESH]

Pretty much every player now goes to one knee for a one-timer, but I wondered if an NHL player is recognized as the first to begin doing this, and who had the most success with it early on. Look at highlights from the great snipers of the 1980's like Bossy or Kurri, and you won't see it. I know Brett Hull was pretty good at it, but who was the pioneer?

I hardly ever see players go to one knee unless they need to. Ovechkin and Laine score about as many one-timers as anyone in the league, and you won’t hardly ever see them go to one knee for it.

I’m probably not old enough to answer the question that this thread is about anyways. The first player I thought of when I saw “one knee” was Brett Hull though.

 

[Big Phil]

No, I don't think it is about show. I've never thought that. I don't care for some over the top things or some orchestrated things (drive by tapping of gloves after a goal, waving your sticks to fans in unison after a game) but this isn't it. I've always thought it was about leverage and - as already mentioned - if the pass doesn't go in the spot you want and you are adjusting.

I'm going to stick with Brett Hull on this one though. I honestly think he did this to get more velocity on his shot. Maybe it did, maybe it didn't. I can't imagine it being something that gave him more comfort because going to a knee is never more comfortable, even for an athlete.

Now, if someone finds a clip of Reggie Leach or Yvan Cournoyer or someone doing it on the powerplay in the 1970s then so be it, but Brett Hull is the one who turned it into a weapon. He popularized it. It is like asking who wore the mask the first time and saying it was Clint Benedict. Technically it was, as he wore it briefly to nurse a broken nose but this is all about Jacques Plante as the one who started it.

 

[Killion]

I hardly ever see players go to one knee unless they need to. Ovechkin and Laine score about as many one-timers as anyone in the league, and you won’t hardly ever see them go to one knee for it.

I’m probably not old enough to answer the question that this thread is about anyways. The first player I thought of when I saw “one knee” was Brett Hull though.

I'm not aware of this "move" being a "thing" at anytime tbh. I've seen it done of course but its rare, usually an act of desperate contortion by the player who's being crowded and in an attempt to get a shot away lunges at the puck. Its not something I've ever seen practiced nor can I even imagine anyone practices such a thing. Ha?

..... be a new one on me, right out of the Harlem Globetrotters, reminiscent of Pioneer hockey player Harry Trihey & his infamous Flip Shot.... sending the puck sky high into the rafters from like Center or the Blue Line, puck ascending & landing behind the goalies back & into the net.... trick shot.... Harry actually nicknamed Flip as a result..... Harry one of the early stars of the game in the 1890's, 1900's... most notably with the Montreal Shamrocks.... and beyond adept with his Flip Shot apparently... wasnt just a one off freak job. He worked at it the sneaky, diabolical little Bast....

At anyrate, the dynamics, speed & velocity, level & accuracy of a shot taken with a knee on the ice would differ greatly from one upright & firmly planted... from a semi prone position like that you just wouldnt be able to get as much mustard on it, not nearly the same force & accuracy, wonky leverage.... That being said, such shots because there so unusual, hard to read if your the goalie, puck moving in peculiar ways, slowly, that can really mess you up. Like a Trihey Flip Shot.... lose sight of it in the rafters, glare of the lights.... same with odd angle weird unexpected one timers taken at ice level.

 

[Tom Polakis]

Thanks for the replies. I see it at least once per game now. It's the only way to get the blade of your stick flat on the ice if the incoming pass is to close to your skates. Watch Stamkos and then Pacioretty do it for this reason.

 

[Killion]

Thanks for the replies. I see it at least once per game now. It's the only way to get the blade of your stick flat on the ice if the incoming pass is to close to your skates. Watch Stamkos and then Pacioretty do it for this reason.

Very interesting and I think a relatively new development in the evolution of the game, shooting skills. That its actually something players work on.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I’m no physiologist, but from an energy-transfer standpoint it seems to me that this would actually be a less ideal shooting form than keeping your feet.

Ideally you want everything transferring forward, onto your leading foot, while keeping your body low and knees deeply bent. It seems to me that if you’re doing this on purpose, you’re trying to do it the right way, but overshooting the mark. Getting so low that you lose balance and end up needing the bent knee to touch the ice for leverage — meaning your weight isn’t actually full-forward. By leaning into your back leg for balance, you’re taking energy away from the shot. Comparable to someone who throws a ball so hard that they tumble forward, as opposed to throwing with proper form and ending up balanced on the front foot for maximum energy transfer.

Makes sense that this would have been pioneered by Brett Hull, who wasn’t exactly a student of the game.

 

[Killion]

I’m no physiologist, but from an energy-transfer standpoint it seems to me that this would actually be a less ideal shooting form than keeping your feet.

Ideally you want everything transferring forward, onto your leading foot, while keeping your body low and knees deeply bent. It seems to me that if you’re doing this on purpose, you’re trying to do it the right way, but overshooting the mark. Getting so low that you lose balance and end up needing the bent knee to touch the ice for leverage — meaning your weight isn’t actually full-forward. By leaning into your back leg for balance, you’re taking energy away from the shot. Comparable to someone who throws a ball so hard that they tumble forward, as opposed to throwing with proper form and ending up balanced on the front foot for maximum energy transfer.

Makes sense that this would have been pioneered by Brett Hull, who wasn’t exactly a student of the game.

Yeah it certainly is an interesting development... You have bigger players, less room to move, a lot less time & space, a lot more one-timers on the net.... so given the loss of time & space, crowded conditions, really kind of interesting, innovative.... that in dropping to your knee your below the point of impact, cant be checked in the normal fashion, Submariner type dealeo & if you do actually practice that which is easy enough to do you could become quite proficient at it, particularly with the composite stick. So "New Move" in terms of it being premeditated, practiced whereas in the past, desperation, desperate lunge shot if crowded, caught off balance or whatever.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Yeah, I mean, that's not wrong...but getting 100% power into your shot isn't necessary. This is a one-timer, if you can place this thing, it's going in the net more often than that. I don't know that's really used for anything other than pucks that are too far in front or stuff that's in close that you can get under as readily. The perfect Backstrom -> Ovechkin pass in the left dot will best this every time...but that's why it's used so infrequently, it's to deal with errors...