Great players, BAAAAAAAD skaters

[Marcus-74]

Phil Esposito

A no-brainer, really. Even though he could skate reasonably fast when he wanted (he didn´t want very often!), his technique was horrible. But luckily for him he could pass and, of course, score. Hard to imagine him making it big today with that skating though.

Brad Park

I have seen him only in the Summit Series, but in that at least he looks slow and Soviet guys like Zimin and Kharlamov (in the 2nd and 3rd game, respectively) just blow past him on a breakaway. Great offensive defenseman though.

Mike Bossy

Well, maybe his skating wasn´t that bad, but nothing to write home about either. But it didn´t really matter, did it? "Trottier passes... Bossy shoots... HE SCOOOOOOORES!!!!

Bobby Clarke

Very limited skating ability, but he did so many things: forechecked like hell, won face-offs, made great passes and broke ankles (ooops!)... But no question, one of the best players of the 70s and even Kharlamov had nothing but praise for Clarke in his autobiography.

Aleksander Ragulin

Not a very well known Soviet player in Northern America, but from my Finnish viewpoint a top-10 European defenseman of all-time without a doubt. Made good passes and you just didn´t want to mess with him. Still the strongest hockey player of all-time, I believe... but boy was he a slow skater!

Vladimir Petrov

Probably the best European center of the 70s but skating really wasn´t his forte, so to speak. He made up for his big slapshot, good stickhandling and nice passing. He was very strong too and probably the top face-off man and forechecker of his time in European hockey.

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[silver_made*]

For the Kings, Robitaille and Nicholls come to mind.

 

[John Flyers Fan]

Clarke and Bossy weren't bad skaters at all.

Names that come to mind are Luc Robitaille and Dave Andreychuk.

 

[arrbez]

I don't know about bad, but Gary Roberts is a pretty ugly skater

 

[oil slick]

Adam Oates in his prime was slow... Adam Oates over 40 was painful.

 

[Habsfan 32]

Andrechuk for sure. It's a good thing that he could score garbage goals.

 

[Stephen]

Jaromir Jagr and Petr Nedved both have awkward looking and choppy strides. Both are kind of ugly skaters.

Ron Francis doesn't look too great out there in terms of skating.

Wayne Gretzky wasn't the prettiest skater either.

 

[Habsfan 32]

I find that Brett Hull does not look too good when he's skating. I don't like the way he skates.

 

[pei fan]

Wayne Gretzky wasn't the prettiest skater either.

I'm speechless!

 

[Roughneck]

This should be called the Ray Sheppard thread.

 

[Spitfire11]

Larry Murphy owns this thread.

I remember Lidstrom would be in an offensive role and Murphy in a more defensive role, but Lidstrom would still have to skate back for all the icings. It was very painful to watch Murphs play.

 

[mazmin]

Wayne Gretzky wasn't the prettiest skater either.

Fastest, no.

Pretty? He could have had a career figure skating. Amazing stride. Technically perfect.

 

[FLYLine27*]

Jaromir Jagr and Petr Nedved both have awkward looking and choppy strides. Both are kind of ugly skaters.

Ron Francis doesn't look too great out there in terms of skating.

Wayne Gretzky wasn't the prettiest skater either.

Ugly or not...Jagr can pretty much get by anybody.

 

[KOVALEV10*]

Fastest, no.

Pretty? He could have had a career figure skating. Amazing stride. Technically perfect.

You're funny. Gretzky looked like a really ugly skater.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Jaromir Jagr and Petr Nedved both have awkward looking and choppy strides. Both are kind of ugly skaters.

Ron Francis doesn't look too great out there in terms of skating.

Wayne Gretzky wasn't the prettiest skater either.

saying jagr was a bad skater is ridiculous. watch a game from 1997 or so and you'll see that jagr was a tremendous skater. francis i agree with. great player, below average skater.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Fastest, no.

Pretty? He could have had a career figure skating. Amazing stride. Technically perfect.

i don't think figure skaters skate hunched over. wayne was an ugly skater. he made up for it in other areas though..

 

[ALF AmericanLionsFan]

Ugly or not...Jagr can pretty much get by anybody.

I always like watching him skate.

 

[pei fan]

You're funny. Gretzky looked like a really ugly skater.

Pretty /ugly
Gretzky was an excellent skater.He wasn't the fastest but had good quickness and
especially a great ability to change directions on a dime.He also had excellent balance.It is absolutely LUDICROUS that he has entered this discussion.Great
player,yes.Bad skater,absolutely no.

 

[Sammy*]

Pretty /ugly
Gretzky was an excellent skater.He wasn't the fastest but had good quickness and
especially a great ability to change directions on a dime.He also had excellent balance.It is absolutely LUDICROUS that he has entered this discussion.Great
player,yes.Bad skater,absolutely no.

Totally agree. And nobody could beat him to a loose puck .
Back on topic, Park & Carlyle were jokes as they got old (could hook & hold like nobodies business), though they were quite good skaters when they were young.

 

[John Flyers Fan]

Larry Murphy owns this thread.

I remember Lidstrom would be in an offensive role and Murphy in a more defensive role, but Lidstrom would still have to skate back for all the icings. It was very painful to watch Murphs play.

That was at the end. When Murphy first came up he was a pretty good skater ... by the end he looked like Brad Marsh.

 

[futurcorerock]

Pretty /ugly
Gretzky was an excellent skater.He wasn't the fastest but had good quickness and
especially a great ability to change directions on a dime.He also had excellent balance.It is absolutely LUDICROUS that he has entered this discussion.Great
player,yes.Bad skater,absolutely no.

I think the point was that Gretz had an ugly stride. Each poster also made note of the fact that his ugly stride didnt hurt him in any way, speaking that he's one of the greatest athletes of all time.

 

[CoupeStanley]

Gretzky an ugly skater? Come one, he was just so technically better than everyone else, that it may look weird (as in never see someone skate as good as that) but he's far away from a bad skater.

And those who say, not the fastest. Well, maybe not as fast as a Bure or a Lafleur but a young Wayne sure had one heck of a set of wheel.

People remember Gretzky floating on the open ice handing out tape to tape pass, but they don't remember the young Gretzky that enter the leagues with the weight of canadian hockey on his shoulder, skating like a demon, deking like nobody else, watching Kurri shadow on the glass and passing it backend right on the tape, scoring 92 goals, winning 9 hart trophy, 10 art ross and getting multiple 200pts season.

He was such an agile skater, it's god damn ridiculous to even think about him.

He take so much heat on this board, it's disgusting.

Go watch some tape and come back.

 

[GravityGrave]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Jason Allison yet. The guy has tremendous skills but is a clunker of a skater.

Other great players who have less than stellar skating ability:

Brendan Shannahan
Glen Murray
Eric Daze (who nevertheless is not too shabby for such a big guy)
Chris Chelios (who quite possibly has the ugliest skating I've seen, though admittedly by no means the worst)
Derian Hatcher
Dave Andreychuk

I also think people are confusing ugly technique with poor skating ability. Gretzky was far from a technically perfect skater, nor that pretty to watch, but back in the day he had nice wheels. Jagr is another case - he has an unorthodox skating style, perhaps, but by no means is he a poor skater.

 

[bleedgreen]

i always thought gretz was a less than perfect skater myself, really. fast as hell when he was young, but it never struck me as textbook. he always looked too hunched over. its not meant as a knock. i watched him his whole career, i dont need tape thanks. i dont think he was less than spectacular in any way, he just looked a little off in his body positioning. ive never given gretz heat on anything before.

ronnie francis was never a very good skater, slow footed and lacked agility.

 

[soulok*]

You're funny. Gretzky looked like a really ugly skater.

so is that face of that player as your icon. Gretzky in his prime was as good a skater u could have.. he may not have been the fastest but he sure was quick and so agile. Id have to say he was a faster skater then lemieux at his best.