Who is the fastest skater in NHL history?

[Laineux]

Gartner as I understand has the official record, but what do you think? Also any possible statistics would help.

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[Laineux]

Should've been NHL section...

 

[CherryToke]

Bure

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

Bure was the fastest I've ever seen, but my hockey knowledge of the 80s and early 90s is limited. When Bure got going it looked like he was running a 40 at the combine on skates. It was amazing to watch.

 

[bigwillie]

In my hockey watching lifetime it's Bure.

 

[Cursed Lemon]

Put Bure in a pair of Crazy Lights.

 

[Boreal01]

Probably Bure.

 

[gudzilla]

depends if you adjust it to the era aswell, like, there's a lot of superduper fast players from early 1900s that would have no chance against todays players, but still, comparable, was faster

 

[Laineux]

depends if you adjust it to the era aswell, like, there's a lot of superduper fast players from early 1900s that would have no chance against todays players, but still, comparable, was faster

I can accept era adjusting based on the skates the players use.

Now that hockey players are and have been paid millions of a long time now, the competition is obviously much higher than it was pre-90s or 80s.

Edited

 

[Prophet]

Bobby Orr.

 

[Chieftans22*]

I am somewhat confident that the fastest players of today are the fastest players ever... what with their neverending training and ever improving technique, skate technology, ice improvements, etc.

 

[Laineux]

I am somewhat confident that the fastest players of today are the fastest players ever... what with their neverending training and ever improving technique, skate technology, ice improvements, etc.

Can they go around the rink faster than Gartner did? At least before 2008 they couldn't.

 

[Chieftans22*]

Can they go around the rink faster than Gartner did? At least before 2008 they couldn't.

Considering Mike Garner retired when I was a little boy I have no idea.

 

[Laineux]

Considering Mike Garner retired when I was a little boy I have no idea.

It's the NHL fastest skater competition, I'm just wondering if there are any modern players who could do it faster than Gartners record, it was the same until 2008 when they changed the competition.

 

[D0ctorCool]

Fastest player with the puck = Pavel Bure.

 

[BB1133]

Peter Bondra deserves some love here.

 

[Kale Makar]

Nathan MacKinnon

 

[LeBlondeDemon10]

Fastest player with the puck = Pavel Bure.

Yeah, I think this kind of stat is very overrated unless it is with the player carrying the puck and wheeling through and around defenders.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

lots of guys were faster than bure if they didn't have to stickhandle, and if they were just doing a straight line or a lap around the rink. two of his teammates, grinder garry valk and defensive defenseman bret hedican, at times beat bure in skills competitions.

but yeah, fastest in a game context? since i've been watching, it's bure. but a lot of that isn't pure speed; it's agility, ability to change directions on a dime, reflexes and knowing where the puck is going before the other guy, ability to switch "gears," endurance...

depending on criteria, the fastest skater in NHL history might very well be some guy barely remember, who got a cup of coffee in the league because he skated freakishly fast but didn't stick because he couldn't do anything else. rico fata, for example, was unbelievably fast. but the best skater in NHL history is bobby orr.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

A link was posted by C1958 in a previous thread a little while ago showing that skaters measured in the 1930's actually had comparable lap times to skaters from the modern era.

Advances in skate technology would give modern players a speed advantage, but they are disadvantaged by the massive shin, shoulder, and elbow pads that they now wear.

 

[sr edler]

Wow at everyone saying 90s players couldn't hold up to todays players, like it's some kind of Mesozoic period.

Pre NHL Ken Mallen was apparently super fast. He beat Cyclone Taylor in a speed race in the early years of the PCHA. Then worked as a speed skate instructor.

 

[ToewsGretzky*]

Mason Raymond

 

[Terry Yake]

bure or fedorov

 

[Plural]

Compared to peers.

Fastest skater with the puck, Bobby Hull or Pavel Bure.

Fedorov had great wheels also.

 

[jmelm]

I'd have to agree with Bure. Gartner and Gaborik have both been legendary. Grabner and Emerson Etem are recent players/prospects who have crazy speed. And...


As far as drafted prospects go: I think Andreas Athanasiou might be the fastest skater I've ever seen since Bure, but he's bigger so has an even longer stride. He might end up being even faster than Etem & Grabner, who are arguably the 2 fastest players in the league now, along with Hagelin.