Great players, BAAAAAAAD skaters

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Reaper45

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Jul 14, 2003
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Well by no means is he a great player, but Chris Therien is by far the worst skater I've ever seen.

I've always said that he skates the way Eric Karros runs.
 

Thornton97

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Nov 18, 2004
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Carrollton, TX
Allison was the first name that came to mind, Gravity Grave. Being a Bruin's fan, Brad Boyes' skating is often compared to that of Jason Allison.

Take it for what you will
 

doc5hole

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Nov 30, 2003
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Brian Curran is one of the most awkward looking skaters ever in the NHL. He use to make the ice squeek in practice. Lots of movement but none of it getting him from point A to point B.

Rick Zombo was a poor man's Brian Curran. Not so gangly, but pretty all huff and puff.

Steve Leach another guy who moved a lot and went nowhere.

Allison does look like a spider on the ice and has a lousy open ice stride. Boyes is not rangy like Allison but does lack open ice speed.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Spezza, who has a very funny style. He barely lifts his feet going forward but he gets around well enough to be effective.

The late Sergei Zholtok was a weird looking skater as a Bruins prospect, but the Sens straightened him out.

Hal Gill, who incidentally owns Jaromir Jagr, is like watching a giant crane pull taffy.

Dan McGillis, who has had upper back surgery (the scar is obvious), now skates kind of like Jim Weimer did, as if there's a 4x4 nailed to his back.

As for 99, I get what some are saying about his back-parallel-to-the-ice style. Donato skated similarly, but in that awkwardness, Gretzky fashioned a style of puck handling away from his body that allowed him to carry it like a player six inches taller.
 

MB1

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Mar 26, 2005
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Can't believe nobody mentioned Scott Mellanby. A blg, slow (but very effective) tank.
 

DaveG

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Apr 7, 2003
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Ron Francis - slow, not really agile, but one of the best faceoff men and playmakers ever. He always seemed to know where to be, when to be there, and where his teammates were at all times.

Dave Andreychuk - the guy always seemed to be slow as heck. He's also one of the best leaders in the game, capable of playing pretymuch any role a team needs him to play.
 

futurcorerock

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Nov 15, 2003
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CoupeStanley said:
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.

We're not talking about technicality here, we're talking about how UGLY his stride is. His stride can be ugly and effective at the same time.

People really don't give Gretzky heat... it's a well known fact that his stride is awkward, but I haven't once heard anyone say it was any less of a stride than any other NHLer. Infact, it works oppositely.

You'd have to just be Pejorative Slured to say something like "Gretzky was a weak skater" It's just an argument that doesn't hold water, equal to say the earth is flat. However, some people still perpetuate the notion that people are saying that when commenting on the cosmetics of his skating ability. Give it up already :shakehead
 

VanIslander

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Sep 4, 2004
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Yanic Perrault had some very good years; would've been great if he'd learned to skate.
 

Habsfan 32

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Aug 18, 2004
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GravityGrave said:
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.

Chelios's skating is bad because he played with torn ligaments in his knees because he did not want to get operated. He tought that if he got operated he would lose some time to play and it would force him to retire. I think he looked liek a decent skater at the start of his career but the injuries have taken their toll on him.
 

blamebettman*

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Cam Neely had great balance and strength on his skates, but was always kind of slow, even pre injury.

Steve Konowalchuk

John Ogrodnick

Mike Foligno
 

blamebettman*

Guest
Stephen said:
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.

yea, Nedved is really weird to watch. He's pretty tall and lanky, like a knock-need skater.

Jagr was never a smooth skater either, but in his prime he was very powerful and impossible to knock off the puck.
 

Stephen

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Feb 28, 2002
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Dark Metamorphosis said:
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.

I'm well aware of Jagr's career and his ability. I just think he's an ugly skater. I didn't say he was a bad skater.
 

Stephen

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Feb 28, 2002
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mazmin said:
Fastest, no.

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

I didn't say Gretzky was a bad skater, or he was slow or he wasn't a great player. He just had choppy, awkward style. He just wasn't as fluid in motion or as technically developed as a guy like a Sergei Fedorov or a Paul Coffey.
 

Stephen

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Feb 28, 2002
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pei fan said:
Pretty /ugly :dunno:
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.

Ugly skater is the key word here. I really hate it when people twist things out of context and get their panties in a twist over some supposedly outrageous comment.

If you want to watch Gretzky on ESPN Classic Canada or on the NHL network when they play vintage games, you'll see that Wayne Gretzky's skating stride was choppy and he was hunched over when he was skating at full stride. Now I'm not saying he wasn't able to get things done or he was slow or he was completely worthless. All I'm saying he was an ugly skater, and you wouldn't teach his technique to someone at skating school.
 

Crosbyfan

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Nov 27, 2003
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CoupeStanley said:
, 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.

.

OK, help us out. Was he the guy who played for the Oilers?
 

Stephen

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Feb 28, 2002
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CoupeStanley said:
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.

I've watched Gretzky enough times to be able to point out exactly what I don't like about his skating technique. I think when you call a hunched over, choppy skater 'so much better technically than anyone else,' you're the one who needs to watch some game tape.

And I don't know how his career accomplishments have anything to do with the fact that he was an ugly skater. Nobody is disputing the fact that he was one of the all time greats or that he accomplished a lot of things. I'm not even saying he was slow on the ice or that he wasn't agile. JUST THE FACT THAT HE WAS NOT A VERY PRETTY SKATER.
 

loadie

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Jan 1, 2003
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Some guys that are great with less than stellar skating:

Robitaille
Francis
Andrechuk
Murphy

Regular guys:

Langdon
Marsh
Perreault
Isbister
Gill
 

Chili

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Jun 10, 2004
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Charlie Simmer comes to mind. Great hands, slow feet.
 

Everest

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Apr 19, 2005
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Like the rest of his game...99's skating was one of a kind. I think hes famous "hunchiness" lent itself to the ability to spin/turn/curl quickly...also by "hiding" his chest in mid stride....he made it nearly impossible to hit him.
Your right,you can't/wouldn't teach 99's technique...but its purposes were unmistakeable.
99 had hidden speed,great lateral motion and a fantastic ability to move his feet while handling the puck. People who think he was bad/rough/not efficient skater should consider he always had the puck...unlike a Bure or Gartner...who put on miles without the puck. Your skating changes/depends on having the puck alot.
 

David

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Feb 28, 2002
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mazmin said:
Fastest, no.

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

Gretz was not a particulary good skater.

He was hunched way over (more so towards the end of his career than early on) and was not particularly fast.

It's a known fact that Gretz was almost always one of the last persons in all the individual team skill competitions including skating...that's why it's such a mystery how the Wayner was sooooooo much better than anyone else in history!

In '93, Bob Mackenzie even wrote that Wayne skated like he was carrying a piano on his back which fired up Gretz to come back the next night and play what Gretz himself calls one of the best games of his life against the Leafs, knocking them out of the playoffs.
 

tinyzombies

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Dec 24, 2002
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Montreal, QC, Canada
Gretz had above average speed and mobility...what set him apart was VISION and ANTICIPATION, not skating. He was an ugly skater, that's obvious.

I can't believe Mario Lemieux's name came up. He's one of the most graceful skaters in league history and has been compared to Jean Beliveau. Beliveau was one of the most graceful players ever and he did it with that crappy old equipment. If you've ever seen Mario at ice level you know that man can fly too. Tons of speed in those long legs.

I'm a Montreal fan, so here's mine:

Stephane Quintal. Made up for his skating with his smarts.

Patrick Traverse. Nuff said.

Pierre Daganais. He has the shot of Mike Bossy, but the legs of a giraffe.

Eric Chouinard. See Pierre Dagenais.

Radek Bonk. Awkward stride. Has a little speed once he gets going.....eventually.

Richard Zednik. He has good speed, but he looks like he has to go potty because he skates in such a low crouch.

Mike Ribeiro. Skates like a SMALL Gretzky.

Jason Ward. YUCK!

Duncan Milroy. YUCK!

Michael Ryder. Skates like he's tied to a tree, but his heart gets him there...somehow.

Mike Komisarek. Has the makings of a fine skating defenseman, once he gets used to his size. Right now he is a bit awkward and has a lot of work to do agility-wise.

Sheldon Souray. Has good speed in a straight line, but still needs work on his agility. Especially after injuring his knee and all this time off.

Hopefully these guys have been taking power skating classes in their off time!
 

kruezer

Registered User
Apr 21, 2002
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North Bay
I agree with Adam Oates, brilliant passer, but watching him and Hull skate was not pretty.

And how about Mike Commodore, not a great player, but yikes is his skating bad.
 
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