Best slow skaters to play in the NHL

[Buffaloed]

Adam Oates
Dave Andreychuk
Larry Murphy
Phil Esposito
Luc Robitaille
Hal Gill

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[Dennis Bonvie]

Charlie Simmer.

 

[brachyrynchos]

Langway was far from a speedster. Great positioning and safe play.

 

[Fenway]

Terry O'Reilly

 

[BM14]

Good call on Andreychuk.

Nik Antropov and Jason Allison as well.

 

[The Panther]

Kevin Lowe. He was slow as molasses, but fortunately he knew a thing or two about winning, if that were ever a concern.

Brad Marsh carved out a pretty good career for a guy who was zero-to-sixty in forty-five minutes.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

Allan Stanley was nicknamed "Snow Shoes" due to his slow speed and awkward gait - likely among the slowest HOF defensemen ever.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Adam Oates
Dave Andreychuk
Larry Murphy
Phil Esposito
Luc Robitaille
Hal Gill

One of these things is not like the others....

 

[Normand Lacombe]

Ray Shepard carved out a nice career for a someone who couldn't skate.

 

[crobro]

Tiger Williams
Gilbert Dionne
Tim Hunter
Dana Murzyn

 

[brachyrynchos]

Like Jason Allison, Andrew Brunette was considered a slow skater by Washington. Ended up a perennial 20 goal scored with a decent career.

 

[Doctor No]

I just checked, and Andrew Brunette is still skating towards the Colorado net on the goal that beat the Avalanche in the 2003 playoffs.

(Loved him as an Av, though!)

 

[brachyrynchos]

I just checked, and Andrew Brunette is still skating towards the Colorado net on the goal that beat the Avalanche in the 2003 playoffs.

(Loved him as an Av, though!)

That goal was the last goal scored on Roy. Brunette also scored the 1st goal in Nashville history. Brunette I guess used his shot and IQ to his advantage, but yeah he was so slow. Liked the guy in his brief time in Washington.

 

[streitz]

Oates wasn't that slow.


Jason Allison.

 

[blood gin]

Paul Gardner

Ray Sheppard

 

[Nick Hansen]

Recent example would be Derek Stepan. Really slow.

Were the Sedins always slow or did age do that to them? Because man, they were slow the last few years. I seem to remember they were average in their prime/peak though. About Bäckström speed.

 

[Sentinel]

Zdeno Chara. Of course his wingspan covered the defensive zone crom one board to the other.

 

[Sentinel]

Detroit had a pretty slow line in Robitaille-Larionov-Holmstrom. Was pretty effective at times.

 

[brachyrynchos]

I was gonna say Tim Kerr but injuries probably play a part. I don't remember him skating much, he just always seemed to be around the net.
Ken Daneyko was on the slow side, another dman who played his angles & used his body well.
Any good goalies that were poor skaters?

 

[Michael Farkas]

Tuukka Rask is a poor skater. I think he's like the all time* leader in save pct. or some noise...something close to that...

Rask has insanely quick legs, but his skating itself is garbage...

 

[VMBM]

Wayne Cashman is about the slowest skater I've seen, unless he was somehow 'deceptionally fast' (but I don't think so).

Tuukka Rask is a poor skater. I think he's like the all time* leader in save pct. or some noise...something close to that...

Rask has insanely quick legs, but his skating itself is garbage...

Does it really matter though?

Although I've heard it sometimes claimed something like "the goalie should be the best skater on his team"(?!)

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Not mentioned yet - Nels Stewart, Ted Kennedy, Ron Francis, Duke Keats.

I have seen Cy Dennney and Babe Dye called slow, but I'm not totally sure on them.

 

[Doctor No]

Does it really matter though?

Although I've heard it sometimes claimed something like "the goalie should be the best skater on his team"(?!)

The requirements are different for goaltenders than for non-goaltenders, but yes, absolutely it matters.

Think about it - you're required to be in the right spot for every shot taken in a complex game where the entire goal of the opposition is to take those shots when you aren't in position. And you're doing this while on skates - if your skating is not adequate, you're not going to succeed.

 

[brachyrynchos]

Does it really matter though?

Although I've heard it sometimes claimed something like "the goalie should be the best skater on his team"(?!)

How about back in the day when goalies could skate out to play the puck? I suppose post 'Brodeur rule' skating maybe became less important, nowadays maybe getting to the bench when pulled for an extra attacker? But then again, maybe if they were better at goaltending their skating wouldn't matter as much. I don't know, maybe there's an example somewhere out there where a goalies lack of mobility hurt their team somehow, or great goalies who were poor skaters.

 

[VMBM]

The requirements are different for goaltenders than for non-goaltenders, but yes, absolutely it matters.

Think about it - you're required to be in the right spot for every shot taken in a complex game where the entire goal of the opposition is to take those shots when you aren't in position. And you're doing this while on skates - if your skating is not adequate, you're not going to succeed.

But in Tuukka Rask's case, has this been a great hinder? I mean, how much better would/could he be?